Paedophile Richard Burrows sentenced to 46 years after 27 years on the run

Richard Burrows, a former scout leader and school housemaster, has been sentenced to 46 years in prison for the systematic sexual abuse of 24 boys across Cheshire, the West Midlands, and West Mercia between 1968 and 1995. After being charged with historical sex offences in 1997, Burrows fled the UK using a stolen identity and lived in Thailand for nearly three decades, referring to it as 'paradise.' Despite multiple police and media appeals, he remained undetected until 2023, when advances in facial recognition technology allowed detectives to identify him through online images. Burrows was arrested upon his return to the UK after running out of money and being diagnosed with cancer. The court heard distressing testimony from victims and condemned Burrows’s actions and his attempts to justify them. His sentencing brings long-awaited justice, although some victims did not live to see the outcome.