The former Blackburn Rovers trainee struck a 31st minute winner for Stanley to take the sting out of the Bees.
And victory was extra sweet for John Coleman's battling side as they pulled themselves further away from the wrong end of League Two.
Having forced the pace in the early exchanges, Richardson's wicked curling shot flew in off the far post to give the home side a welcome lead.
And if it had not been for a string of excellent saves from visiting keeper Ben Hamer, then Stanley could have won by a bigger margin.
As early as the sixth minute Ian Craney had a powerful shot charged down, before moments later being denied by a brilliant fingertip save from Hamer.
Paul Mullin then had a shot saved by on the on-song shot-stopper, before Aswad Thomas saw his shot fly wide of the target.
Jay Harris tried his luck from distance, but his rasping drive flew over the crossbar much to the relief of Hamer, who was having a busy evening between the posts.
Alan Connell forced Accrington keeper Kenny Arthur to save well midway through the half, before Hamer was left stranded as Richardson's dipping shot flew into his net.
Connell shot wide just before the break, but the home side could have led 2-0 if Mark Roberts' header was not saved by Hamer.
Arthur saved well from Connell six minutes into the second half, before on-loan striker Andy Mangan fired wide at the other end.
Mullin headed wide as Accrington looked to double their advantage he was denied by a superb save from Hamer in the 77th minute.
Craney went close, Mullin shot wide and substitute Andy Proctor was inches away from scoring, but Coleman's charges couldn't grab a second to wrap up proceedings.
Thomas had a header cleared off the line, but Brentford nearly nicked a draw in the last minute when Glenn Poole fired over with a fierce drive.