The sentencing of a paedophile who spent nearly 30 years on the run has been pushed back.

Richard Burrows is due to be sentenced later this month for a string of 97 offences.

Many of these relate to the systematic abuse of 24 young boys across the Cheshire, west Midlands and West Mercia areas between 1968 and 1995.

The offences in Cheshire occurred between 1969 and 1971 whole Burrows was working as a housemaster, looking after vulnerable children at Danesford Children's Home in Congleton.

The 80-year-old, of HMP Altcourse, was due to be sentenced next Monday, April 7.

However, the sentencing has now been moved to Tuesday, April 29, and Wednesday, April 30.

Speaking shortly after Burrows was convicted, Detective Inspector Eleanor Atkinson said: "It is clear that he is a prolific sex offender. He systematically abused his victims, specifically targeting vulnerable boys in order to fulfil his own sexual gratification.

"While his victims will never be able to forget what happened to them, I hope that the fact that Burrows has now been held accountable will finally provide them with some closure. Sadly, four of his victims have now passed away and so did not get to see justice served.

advertisement

 "I also hope that this case acts as a warning to any other wanted suspects – demonstrating that no matter how long you hide, we will find you and you will be held accountable."

READ MORE: Paedophile who spent 30 years on the run with stolen identity found guilty of 97 offences

Facial recognition software was used to track down Burrows, who was using a fake identity (Credit: Cheshire Police)

Following allegations in relation to the offences at Danesford Children's Home, a large-scale investigation was launched by Cheshire Police in 1994.

Burrows was arrested in April 1997 and subsequently charged in May 1997 with two counts of buggery and 11 counts of indecent assault.

After his initial appearance in magistrates' courts, he was released on bail by the court and was due to attend a further hearing at Chester Crown Court on December 8, 1997.

However, Burrows failed to attend and officers subsequently discovered that he had disappeared.

There was no trace of him until April 2023 when detectives from the force's Serious and Organised Crime Unit used specialist software to search for any possible images of Burrows online.

advertisement

After searching through billions of images, the system came back with a match for a man using the name of Peter Smith who was living in Chalong in Phuket, Thailand.

Following further enquiries, officers discovered that Burrows had stolen the name Peter Smith from an acquaintance who was terminally ill. This allowed him to fraudulently obtain a 'genuine' passport in 1997 and so leave the country without detection.

Police later became aware of Burrows' intention to return to the UK travelling under the alias of Peter Smith and he was arrested as soon as he landed at Heathrow.

On March 17, 2025, Burrows was found guilty of 54 offences, including indecent assault of boys, buggery, attempted buggery and indecency with a child.

He had already pleaded guilty to 43 offences, including indecent assault of boys, making indecent images of children, possession of indecent images of children and four counts of possession of false identity documents with intent, at an earlier hearing.