Richard Burrows, a British paedophile who spent 27 years in Phuket under the alias Peter Smith, has been convicted of 97 child abuse offences spanning from 1968 to 1997. He will be sentenced on April 7th, with more potential victims still to come forward.
A British paedophile who spent 27 years hiding in Phuket is to be sentenced by Cheshire Crown Court on April 7th next. On Monday, Richard Burrows was convicted by a jury on 97 offences, including the abuse of minors. The offences date to a period from 1968 to 1997 in his role as an educator and Scout Master. Significantly, this week, Detective Inspector Eli Atkinson of Cheshire Police told reporters in the UK that she believed there are countless other victims of the accused. Indeed, many of them may also be in Thailand. Burrows lived in Phuket in an air-conditioned, converted container and was well known in expat circles as Peter Smith. In particular, he worked in the media industry.
An 81-year-old British man was convicted by Cheshire Crown Court on Monday. Previously, the man had lived in Phuket for 27 years under the alias Peter Smith.
In brief, he had been up before the court on 97 counts of child sex abuse. The offences ranged from possession and production of indecent photos of young boys to sexual assault and even buggery.
Previously, Peter Smith was a well-liked British expat in Phuket who worked within the media industry. In particular, he lived in a converted container with air conditioning on the holiday island, which he termed paradise.
Peter Smith changed identity after a court arraignment in 1997, fleeing to Thailand under a new name
Before that, in 1997, he was arraigned before Cheshire Crown Court. However, the self-confessed paedophile changed his identity.
In short, he assumed the name Peter Leslie Smith with the help of an ill acquaintance. After that, he left for Thailand under his alias.
At length, he arrived in Phuket and made himself an active part of expat society. Many people knew him as a sociable Englishman. That was until early 2024.
In the meantime, UK police, and in particular the National Crime Agency (NCA), regularly put out appeals seeking to locate Richard Burrows. Indeed, it was not until a routine re-evaluation of the case that someone used new facial recognition technology to compare the two identities, and it was a match.
Detectives were notably drawn to a particularly distinctive mark on the face of both profiles.
Richard Burrows spent 27 years on the run. Nevertheless, he was arrested at Heathrow Airport on his return from Thailand on the eve of his 80th birthday in March 2024. When Burrows landed, police were waiting to arrest him.
After years of televised appeals, Burrows was identified and more victims came forward following his arrest
Over the years, police had made numerous televised appeals for help to track him down, including on the BBC’s Crimewatch programme. Each appeal led to more accusers coming forward.
Burrows, originally from Sutton Coldfield, had worked as a housemaster, in particular at a school for troubled teenagers in Cheshire in the 1960s.
He was later involved with the Scouts and amateur radio clubs in the Midlands. The jury at Chester Crown Court heard that Burrows systematically abused boys with whom he came into contact. In summary, he exploited positions of trust and responsibility for his own gratification.
Before his trial, Burrows admitted 43 offences—including indecent assault of boys and making and possessing indecent images of children. In addition, he did not challenge four counts of possessing false identity documents with intent.
Nonetheless, he vehemently denied 54 others, which jurors convicted him of on Monday. These included indecent assault of boys, buggery, attempted buggery, and indecency with a child.
Burrows claimed he returned to the UK to face justice, but detectives say he was out of money in Thailand
Meanwhile, Burrows had decided last year to return to the United Kingdom. At length, he told his family he wanted to face his accusers and his maker.
In truth, according to detectives, he was running out of money in Thailand. Before he left Phuket for Heathrow Airport, he told his brother that “not all paedophiles are the same.”
Certainly, it was a remark that drew a sharp rebuke from Detective Inspector Eli Atkinson. “I just think that’s a disgusting comment to make,” she told Sky News this week. “What we see when we talk to the victims is that it absolutely did do harm. For the vast majority of them, that is their first sexual experience at the age of nine, ten, eleven, twelve—that affects a person for the rest of their life.”
Certainly, one of those victims was James Harvey, who abandoned his anonymity this week in court to shame Burrows.
He had befriended the paedophile while Burrows worked as a Scout Master. The then 13- or 14-year-old Harvey had stayed in a caravan overnight with Burrows. At length, they had been on a trip to an RAF exhibition.
In brief, he was sexually abused.
Victim exposes Burrows’ decades of abuse, calling for his name to be trashed after years of trauma
He told Sky News: “The reason I’m doing this is to at least put a face to the real children who, from the age of 10, 12, 13, put their trust in this man.
“I want his name to be trashed in the world. Indeed, for everybody who ever knew him and thought that he was okay.
“I think he’s pathetic in the true sense of the word. His impulses and emotions have driven everything that he’s done probably throughout the whole of his life. Finally, they have left him looking like a shambling, despicable, evil human being. Certainly, a man that could casually, over 60 years, do this to children. And at the same time still wake up in the morning and find a way of justifying it.
“I think he’s pathetic, I think he’s weak. There is nothing about this man that deserves anything other than loathing.”
Burrows’ crimes against children began in the mid-1960s. Later, he was a housemaster at Danesford Children’s Home in Congleton from 1969 to 1971.
Burrows’ grooming tactics used at schools and in clubs across the UK ultimately led to decades of abuse
Before the court this week were other offences stemming from Burrows’ professional career, in particular in the West Midlands and West Mercia. The offences ranged from 1968 to 1997.
In each case, he befriended the victims by using his position of trust over them. After that, he divined their interests, such as radio communications or boating.
Meanwhile, after gaining their trust, and in many cases the trust of their families, Burrows then went on to sexually abuse the boys. Some of his victims attempted to speak out at the time. However, many felt they would not be believed. Indeed, it was not until the 1990s that many had the confidence to come forward.
At length, Burrows was finally arrested in April 1997. After his arrest, he jumped bail. Indeed, James Harvey questioned how this was possible back then.
At the same time, the now middle-aged man acknowledged the different times that existed in the past. In summary, the climate which allowed such abuse to go unchallenged. And even when it was, there was trepidation and caution among authorities.
“Before, we lived in this kind of unbelievable ignorance and innocence that there were predators like this living in every single one of our institutions.”
Burrows was convicted and may face further charges, with possible victims yet to come forward
Burrows has now been convicted. Some of his accusers died before seeing him finally face justice. Cheshire Police say they are unable to confirm whether Burrows may have offended during his time in Thailand. Nonetheless, they acknowledge and are confident that there could be more victims who have not yet come forward.
In testimony to the court, he said he chose to live in Phuket in order to go sailing. At the same time, he said he ran from justice as the charges presented against him were unfounded.
“The number of charges weren’t me – I hadn’t done them,” he insisted.
Former Phuket expat media salesman can expect to die in a UK prison if convicted of abuse charges
Significantly, he admitted he had returned because he had run out of money. In short, not out of some late-sprouting sense of guilt or morality.
Burrows will finally be sentenced for his crimes on April 7th next. Certainly, he will likely die behind prison bars.
Join the Thai News forum, follow Thai Examiner on Facebook here
Receive all our stories as they come out on Telegram here
Follow Thai Examiner here
Further reading:
Former Phuket expat media salesman can expect to die in a UK prison if convicted of abuse charges
57-year-old UK paedophile may have offended in Thailand as judge jails him until he is 90 years old
Thailand tightens screening of foreign English teachers following paedophile arrest
Aussie with Thai wife arrested in Chachoengsao on sex abuse of a minor charge in New South Wales
Thailand tightens screening of foreign English teachers following paedophile arrest
Calls to legalise prostitution in Thailand after Pattaya sex raid on Walking Street this week
