BBC North West Tonight
BBC News, West Midlands
Cheshire PoliceA paedophile who spent nearly three decades on the run, leaving his victims to suffer, has been jailed for 46 years.
Richard Burrows, 80, formerly of Birmingham, was convicted of 54 child sex abuse charges and admitted 43 more at Chester Crown Court in March.
The court heard he abused 24 boys, some as young as nine, while a housemaster at a Cheshire boarding school and through involvement with scouts in the West Midlands between 1968 and 1995.
The jury heard one of his accusers told police he “hated” the abuse, which would happen as much as two to three times per week, but said he “could do nothing about it”, adding “I was frightened and young”.
Judge Steven Everett told Burrows at the sentencing on Wednesday: “You are a despicable man”.
When defence barrister Philip Clemo told the court that Burrows would spend his last days in prison, the judge said: “I don’t suppose there’ll be anyone who’ll mourn that.”
Judge Everett said that Burrows had given evidence that was “awful”, particularly in regards to Burrows’ claim that there were “good paedophiles and bad paedophiles”.
The judge said he “suspects the jury will have been repulsed” by Burrows using the “obnoxious expression”.
He also remarked that Burrows had “lied [through] your back teeth” in police interviews, and when Burrows nodded at him, the judge replied: “I see you nodding – it’s too late now.”
Cheshire PoliceBurrows was on the run for 28 years, fleeing to Thailand and changing his identity, before returning to the UK in 2024, only after running out of money.
In mitigation, Mr Clemo accepted the victims had had an extensive delay in getting justice, but that Burrows had come back of his own free will and didn’t “have to come back in shackles”. He also told the court that Burrows had cancer, but “the kind of cancer you die with rather than from”.
The judge replied: “If he still had money and he wasn’t ill he would still be in Thailand now. He felt he had no option [but] to come back.”
Judge Everett added that Burrows’ decision to flee to Thailand increased the anguish suffered by his victims and the resulting BBC Crimewatch programme led to other victims coming forward.
Mr Clemo told the court that Burrows “knows he’s caused incredible suffering” and has been “struggling with his mental health too”. Mr Clemo also said “his thought processes and perceptions are warped, that’s what they are.”
He concluded that the defence’s comments were “not designed to diminish the pain and suffering detailed so eloquently” by Burrows’ victims.
At the first day of the sentencing on Tuesday, several victim impact statements were read out in court, with some of the victims speaking from the witness stand.
One victim said his childhood was “completely and permanently destroyed” by Burrows, having been drugged and raped in a tent, over a 12-hour period.
The man said he was 10 or 11 when he was abused by Burrows, who took part in scout camps and activities in Sutton Coldfield and Ross-on-Wye.
“What was left of me as a child was taken away by Burrows,” he said in the witness box.
James Harvey, who has waived his legal right to anonymity, told the court he was abused by Burrows in a caravan at night.
The attacks took place at an airshow at Baginton Aerodrome – later known as Coventry Airport – after Mr Harvey had met Burrows while he was a sea scout in Walsall.
“You had so many qualities that could have been put to good, but you used every single one for evil purposes,” Mr Harvey said in court, addressing Burrows.
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