A judge's error has resulted in a nine-year reduction of the prison sentence for Richard Burrows, an 83-year-old former scoutmaster convicted of offenses against 24 boys. Burrows was originally sentenced to 46 years in April after being found guilty of 54 offenses, including indecent images of children and buggery, which would now be classified as rape.

Burrows, who fled to Thailand in 1997 to evade justice, was arrested at Heathrow Airport in March after returning to the UK. His legal team appealed to the Court of Appeal, arguing that a sentence of attempted buggery should have been served concurrently with other offenses, not consecutively, and that the total sentence was excessive. The appeal judges agreed that the sentence was not just or proportionate and overturned a nine-year sentence for attempted buggery, reducing it to a concurrent term.

This adjustment brings Burrows' total sentence to 38 years. Given his age and existing health conditions, including cancer, it is considered highly unlikely he will be considered for release.

Burrows' crimes occurred between the late 1960s and mid-1990s. He was a housemaster at a school for troubled teenagers in Cheshire from 1969 to 1971 and later worked with scout groups and amateur radio clubs in the Midlands. A jury heard that he used his positions of trust to sexually abuse boys aged between 10 and 15.

After initially facing charges in 1997, Burrows fled to Thailand under a false identity, living there for 27 years. He was apprehended upon his return to Britain. Police bodycam footage captured his arrest at Heathrow Airport. Some of the offenses, including those in an attic room at his Sutton Coldfield address, date back to between 1966 and 1968.

One victim, James Harvey, who was indecently assaulted as a teenager, described Burrows as "pathetic" and "weak," condemning his attempts to justify his actions. Detective Inspector Eleanor Atkinson called Burrows a "prolific sex offender" who systematically abused vulnerable boys. She expressed hope that his accountability would provide closure for his victims, noting that four had died before seeing justice served.