{"id":1120,"date":"2025-03-17T16:29:56","date_gmt":"2025-03-17T17:29:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/?p=1120"},"modified":"2025-03-18T23:11:49","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T23:11:49","slug":"paedophile-who-dodged-cops-in-paradise-for-27-years-found-guilty-of-97-offences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/paedophile-who-dodged-cops-in-paradise-for-27-years-found-guilty-of-97-offences\/","title":{"rendered":"Paedophile who dodged cops in \u2018paradise\u2019 for 27 years found guilty of 97 offences"},"content":{"rendered":"
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class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\twindow.addEventListener(‘metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded’, function(data) {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tif (typeof(data.detail) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === ‘undefined’) {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\treturn;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t}<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar player = data.detail.carousel.el_;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar container = player.closest(‘.metro-video-player’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar placeholder = container.querySelector(‘.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tcontainer.removeChild(placeholder);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tcontainer.classList.add(‘metro-video-player–related-videos-loaded’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t});<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/02\/25\/paedophile-teacher-held-prisoner-five-years-this-escaped-22620616\/\">A notorious paedophile<\/a> has been found guilty of dozens of historical child sexual abuse offences after spending years on the run in a place he described as \u2018paradise\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Richard Burrows, a former Scout leader and housemaster, was found guilty of 97 offences dating from the 1960s to the 1990s.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/video\/cheshire-paedophile-spent-27-years-run-thailand-arrested-heathrow-3394727\/\">His dreadful crimes<\/a> led to a conviction at <a data-track=\"inline-tag-auto-link_article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/chester\/\">Chester<\/a> Crown Court today after he admitted to 47 offences. A jury also found him guilty of 54 others.<\/p>\n<p>The convictions come around one year after Burrows was arrested on the eve of his 80th birthday at <a data-track=\"inline-tag-auto-link_article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/heathrow-airport\/\">Heathrow Airport<\/a> as he returned to the UK from Thailand.<\/p>\n<p>As he planned his return, he told his brother: \u2018Not all paedophiles are the same\u2019. Following his arrest, he told police he had been living in \u2018paradise\u2019.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"593\" height=\"321\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22742446 lazyload\" alt=\"Richard Burrows comparisons\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/softnary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/SEI_244227674-ccde.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Police used facial recognition to hunt down Burrows during a routine reappraisal of the case (Pictures: Cheshire Police)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He was first arrested in April 1997. When police searched his house in Birmingham, they found magazines of adolescent and pre-pubescent boys engaged in sexual activity stitched into the inside of one of his jackets.<\/p>\n<p>He was charged that year and was due to appear at Chester Crown Court in December 1997, but he failed to attend.<\/p>\n<p>A warrant was issued for his arrest and it was subsequently discovered he had fled the country under the alias \u2018Peter Leslie Smith\u2019. Burrows had cloned the identification of an acquaintance\u00a0and successfully obtained a passport.<\/p>\n<p>Burrows\u2019 arrest at Heathrow last year came when police learned of his plans to return to the UK and travel on his fake passport in order to be arrested.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"430\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22741954 lazyload\" alt=\"Richard Burrows 1997 mugshot\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/softnary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/SEI_198250661-9091.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Richard Burrows had been on the run from police for the best part of 30 years after he was first arrested in 1997 (Picture: MEN Media)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A reappraisal of the case had confirmed \u2018Smith\u2019 was in fact Burrows through facial recognition software.<\/p>\n<p>Opening the case for the prosecution, Mark Connor said Burrows systematically abused boys by obtaining \u2018positions of trust and responsibility\u2019 which he then breached to \u2018satisfy himself sexually with the youngsters\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Burrows denied penetrative sexual activity at any point and abusing other youngsters. He drew a distinction between penetration and sexual touching and appeared to suggest it was justified and he did no harm.<\/p>\n<p>Burrows had worked as a Scout leader, in amateur radio clubs following work as a housemaster at a school for troubled boys in Cheshire during the 1960s.<\/p>\n<p>It is believed a number of Burrows\u2019 victims have never come forward. Some have died without ever receiving justice.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"450\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22741957 lazyload\" alt=\"Richard Burrows arriving at Chester Crown Court in handcuffs\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/softnary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/SEI_243837155-9ead-e1742225201877.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Burrows abused his position of trust over a period of decades (Credits Andrew Price\/View Finder Pictu)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Survivor James Harvey, who waived his right to anonymity as a sexual offence victim, told <a href=\"https:\/\/news.sky.com\/story\/paedophile-who-spent-27-years-on-the-run-in-thailand-found-guilty-of-more-than-100-offences-including-child-abuse-13327060\">Sky News<\/a>: \u2018I want his name to be trashed in the world for everybody that ever knew him and thought that he was okay.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>He said he thinks Burrows, originally from Sutton Coldfield, is \u2018pathetic\u2019 and that his actions had left him \u2018looking like a shambling, despicable, evil human being\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Burrows admitted assaulting Mr Harvey in a caravan after attending and RAF show. Burrows had befriended the boy, who was 13 or 14 at the time, through his involvement in the Sea Scouts.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Harvey also questioned why Burrows was granted bail after his first arrest in 1997.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"484\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22742518 lazyload\" alt=\"Undated handout photo issued by Cheshire Constabulary of Richard Burrows in Thailand\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/softnary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/SEI_244231518-66ca.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Burrows told officers he lived in \u2018paradise\u2019 while on the run in Thailand (Credit: Cheshire Constabulary\/PA Wire)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He said: \u2018We had no language, no framework, no understanding, no imagination that this same person had done to us, would go on and do something so much worse to somebody else.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>He added that there was an \u2018unbelievable ignorance\u2019 towards sexual predators hiding in \u2018every single one of our institutions\u2019.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong><strong><strong>Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"mailto:webnews@metro.co.uk\" target=\"_blank\">webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>For more stories like this, <\/strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>{“@context”:”https:\/\/schema.org”,”@type”:”VideoObject”,”name”:”Metro.co.uk”,”duration”:”T50S”,”thumbnailUrl”:”https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2025\/03\/17\/14\/96274975-0-image-m-67_1742221580538.jpg”,”uploadDate”:”2025-03-17T14:27:09+0000″,”description”:”Richard Burrows spent 27 years on the run but was arrested at Heathrow Airport returning to the UK because he was out of money.”,”contentUrl”:”https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2025\/03\/17\/251439706879445749\/480x270_MP4_251439706879445749.mp4″,”height”:270,”width”:480} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page window.addEventListener(‘metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded’, function(data) { if (typeof(data.detail) === ‘undefined’ […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1120"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1127,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1120\/revisions\/1127"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}