Cliff Notes – Sex offender Richard Burrows hiding on a beach
- Richard Burrows, a UK sex offender, evaded capture for nearly 30 years while living under a false identity in Thailand, where he was well-liked by locals unaware of his past crimes.
- His history of abusing children spanned several decades, with offences primarily occurring between the 1960s and 1990s, leading to a trial he fled in 1997.
- After 27 years of freedom, Burrows was finally apprehended at Heathrow Airport while attempting to return to the UK, leaving his victims to confront the reality of his long evasion.
Decades on the beach – Sex offender Richard Burrows
In Thailand, Richard Burrows found an escape – a place to hide for nearly 30 years hiding on a beach.
After abusing children, he fled the UK to avoid prosecution. But the severity of his crimes didn’t push him to live a low-profile life – far from it.
In the sandy shores of Phuket, he became very well known and liked. Everyone there knew him as Peter Smith, an identity he stole from a passport that wasn’t his.
No one appeared to know where he had gone after he failed to attend the start of his trial over alleged child sex offences at Chester Crown Court in 1997.
Richard Burrows hiding on a beach
His abuse spanned a wide period from the 1960s to the 1990s. Some of the offences occurred at a children’s school in Cheshire and others happened in the Midlands, through his involvement with the scouts.
But it would take 27 years for him to be caught, finally arrested at Heathrow Airport.
He had settled in Thailand with a familiar routine and a wide circle of acquaintances. He would regularly dine at a small roadside restaurant, often ordering fish and chips.
The owner Pakorn Sanwongwan says the man they knew was kind and generous. They had no idea of his past.
“I’m very shocked because from my perspective, he was a good person. For the past 24 years he had recommended our restaurant to lots of people and brought us new customers,” he said.
His wife Supaporn says they were shocked when just a few months ago he announced he was “going to the UK and never coming back”.
It’s easy to see how many people were duped. He kept the reality of what he’d done largely hidden. And his was not a life lived under the radar.
