A former residence master and scout leader has been convicted of more than 100 charges, including dozens of crimes for sexual abuse of children.
Richard Burrows fled 27 years and lived in what he described as ‘Paradise’ after fleeing from the UK when he appeared in court in 1997.
He was arrested at Heathrow Airport on his return from Thailand on the eve of his 80th birthday last March.
He told family he returned to face his accusers and his maker – police say the truth was that he simply had no money.
He has previously acknowledged dozens of offenses dating from the middle of the 1960s to the mid -1990s.
The jury at Chester Crown Court heard that Burrows had systematically abused boys with whom he came into contact.
Mark Connor KC said: “He gained posts of trust and responsibility that he violated to satisfy himself sexually with the youngsters.”
In the 1960s, Burrows worked as a houser at a school for troubled teens in Cheshire. He was later involved with the scouts and amateur radio clubs in the Midlands.
James Harvey was 13 or 14 when he became friends by Burrows
James Harvey was 13 or 14 when he became friends by Burrows through his involvement with the Sea Scouts. Burrows admitted to assaulting James in a caravan after visiting a RAF show.
James renounced his right to anonymity as a victim of a sexual offense.
He told Sky News: ‘The reason why I do this is to give at least a face for the right children who, from 10, 12, 13 years old, put their confidence in this man. I want his name to fall into the world for all who ever knew him and thought he was in order.
“I think he is pathetic in the true sense of the word. His impulses and emotions have driven everything he probably did throughout life, and made him look like a brilliant, despicable, evil man who, by the way, can do for more than 60 years to children and still wakes up in the morning and finds a way to justify it.
“I think he’s pathetic, I think he’s weak. There is nothing about this man who deserves anything other than to disgust. ‘
Mr Harvey waived his right to anonymity
During his trial, Burrows admitted to being a pedophile, but denied the more serious allegations and described them as “humiliating and disgusting”.
The court heard that Burrows believed his actions did no harm to the children.
While planning his return to the UK last year, he told his brother that “not all pedophiles are the same”.
“I just think it’s a disgusting remark to deliver,” Detective Inspector Eli Atkinson of Cheshire Police told Sky News.
“What we see when we talk to the victims is that it has done absolutely harm. For the vast majority of them, it is their first sexual experience at nine, ten, eleven, twelve, who affects a person for the rest of their lives.”
Burrows, originally from Sutton Coldfield, was arrested for the first time in April 1997 and charged with children’s sexual offenses. When he did not appear at Chester Crown Court in December, a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Over the years, police have conducted numerous television appeals for helping digging digs on the BBC’s Crimewatch program. As a result, more accusers have emerged.
But Burrows has left the UK. He obtained a passport named Peter Leslie Smith who cloned the identity of a bad introduction.
Burrows previously worked as a houser at a school for troubled teenagers
During a routine re -assessment of the case, police used facial recognition software to confirm that ‘Smith’ was in fact digging, and that he lived openly in Thailand.
When they became aware of his plans to return to the UK, police allowed Burrows to travel on his false passport so he could be arrested while he was touching.
Cheshire police say they can’t say whether Burrows would have offended during his time abroad.
Di Atkinson said it is possible that there are other victims who have not emerged.
“There can be so. There are many reasons why people really have difficult decisions to make if they come to the fore in cases like this.
“It won’t surprise me if the time he offends and is the level of offense, if there were more people who were the victim of him.”
James Harvey has questions about why Burrows received bail in 1997. He also wonders if he could have done more to report him earlier.
“People who now listen to me think maybe” oh, I would act differently “, but we have no language, no framework, no understanding, no imagination that the same person did to us, would go on and do something worse to someone else.
“It’s almost impossible for me to sit here and say that I would like to do it. There was literally no way I could. We lived in this kind of incredible ignorance and innocence that there were predators like these in each of our institutions. ‘
Burrows has now been convicted. Some of his accusers died before eventually facing him.
