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Police use AI to capture paedophile after decades on the run

Police use AI to capture paedophile after decades on the run

Independent19-03-2025

Former Scout leader Richard Burrows, 80, has been found guilty of 54 child sex offences after being on the run in Thailand for 27 years.
Burrows abused 24 boys between 1968 and 1995 in Cheshire, West Midlands, and West Mercia.
He fled the UK in 1997 using a stolen identity after being charged, evading capture despite Crimewatch appeals.
Cheshire Police located Burrows in 2024 using AI facial recognition technology and a tip-off, leading to his arrest upon arrival at Heathrow Airport.
The 'specialist software' used by detectives was reportedly the mass facial recognition search engine PimEyes, which scoured the internet to find anyone matching a digitally altered mugshot of Burrows.

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