London’s Burning actor John Alford dies in prison

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Hertfordshire Police

John Alford was sentenced to eight and a half years in jail after sexually assaulting two teenagers

Actor John Alford has died in prison two months after he was jailed for sexually assaulting two teenage girls.

The 54-year-old former star of Grange Hill and London’s Burning was found dead at HMP Bure in Norfolk.

Alford - whose real name was John Shannon - was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in jail after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting the two teenagers, who were 15 and 14.

A Prison Service spokesman confirmed the death to the BBC and said in a statement: “John Shannon died in prison on 13 March 2026. As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate.”

Alford of Holloway, north London, stood trial at St Albans Crown Court under his real name in September last year.

A jury was told the star bought a bottle of vodka for the two teenager girls which they drank at a friend’s house in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, in April 2022.

He was found guilty on four counts of sexual activity with the younger girl, and of sexual assault and assault by penetration on the older teenager.

He was jailed two months ago on 14 January as Recorder Caroline Overton said the offences had a “significant and ongoing impact” on his victims’ lives.

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John Alford appeared in ITV drama London’s Burning

In 1985 he joined the popular BBC Children’s series Grange Hill, playing rebellious first-year Robbie Wright and was in the show until 1989.

But his best-known role came in 1993 when he joined the cast of ITV drama London’s Burning during its sixth series.

The popular show was about members of London Fire Brigade, and he played firefighter Billy Ray, raising his profile so much that by 1996 he launched a pop career.

But Alford was sacked from the show and jailed for nine months after he was convicted of supplying cocaine and cannabis to an undercover News of the World journalist in 1997.

John Alford (left) played Robbie Wright in Grange Hill, alongside George Christopher (right) who appeared as Ziggy Greaves

During his trial in September prosecutor Chris White told the jury: “John Shannon was fully aware of the girls’ ages, yet he chose to exploit them – giving them alcohol and then committing sexual offences against them.”

He had denied the offences, and when the verdicts were delivered, he put his head in his hands and shouted “wrong, I didn’t do this”.

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Prisons

Hoddesdon