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An on-the-run Scout leader accused of child sex offences told police he had been living in “paradise” for 27 years, after being arrested returning from Thailand, a court heard. Richard Burrows, 80, had fled the UK after being due in court in December 1997, a jury at Chester Crown Court was told. He told his brother “not all paedophiles are the same”, as he planned his return to the UK in March last year. Burrows, originally from Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, denies four counts of buggery, two counts of indecency with a child, two counts of attempted buggery and 47 indecent assaults against 10 complainants aged between nine and 15, from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s. As complainants of sexual offences, none of the victims can be identified. Mark Connor, opening the case for the prosecution, told the jury of eight women and four men that, over many years, Burrows systematically abused boys with whom he came into contact. Mr Connor said: “He obtained positions of trust and responsib...