Former London’s Burning star John Alford’s was jailed today for eight-and-a-half years for having sex with a drunk 14-year-old girl at a house party and sexually assaulting her 15-year-old friend.
The ‘predatory’ actor, who appeared in court under his real name of Shannon, was left alone with his victims in the early hours of the morning after other people at the property went to bed.
He then had sex with the younger girl in the garden after asking her to sit on his lap while he had a cigarette and again later in a toilet.
The father-of-two later sexually assaulted the older girl while sitting between his two victims as they were ‘dozing off’ at the house in Hertfordshire.
Alford, who began acting aged nine and came to prominence in Grange Hill, vehemently denied the offences, claiming he was the victim of a blackmail plot after someone rang him and tried to ‘extort money from me’.
But a jury sitting at St Albans Crown Court convicted him on all six charges he faces by a 10-2 majority following a trial.
The 54-year-old – who was previously convicted of supplying drugs in a downmarket tabloid sting, leading to periods working as a taxi driver and scaffolder – returned to the court today to be sentenced.
Handing him the jail term, Recorder Caroline Overton said: ‘Your focus throughout has been on the impact to you and your family rather than the victims… this limits the extent to which mitigation can be applied.’
Alford, who was charged under his real name of John Shannon, pictured arriving last week for his trial at St Albans Crown Court in Hertfordshire
John Alford, pictured in a custody photo taken by Hertfordshire police, became one of the most famous faces on British TV. Today, the 54-year-old has been jailed after he was convicted of having sex with an underage girl and sexually assaulting another at the same party
Alford had spent the night out at a pub with the father of a third girl on April 8, 2022, before going to the property where the sex offences took place.
After other people drifted off to bed he was left alone with his victims, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
He briefly left the property to visit a nearby petrol station where he bought a bottle of vodka, the court was told during his trial.
When he returned, he asked the 14-year-old girl to sit on his lap after going into the garden for a cigarette and started to kiss and touch her before having sex with her.
Later in the evening, Alford had sex with the girl for a second time in a downstairs toilet after pulling her onto him.
The actor sexually assaulted the older girl while sitting between his two victims at one point.
Police were alerted by the 15-year-old girl’s mother two days later and Alford was arrested the following day after both girls were interviewed.
The younger victim, who had turned 18 when she gave evidence to the trial in September, was tearful as she described what happened.
John Alford rose to fame in Grange Hill and London’s Burning (as Billy Ray in the latter, pictured)
She told jurors she and the second victim were good friends and another friend had invited them to her house in Hertfordshire for the evening, with both planning to stay the night.
The sex in the garden with Alford lasted ‘no longer than 10 minutes’, she added, while the second incident in a downstairs bathroom lasted five minutes.
Houzla Rawat, defending Alford, suggested she had been ‘physically friendly’ towards the defendant throughout the evening. She replied: ‘I disagree.’
The victim also denied following Alford into the garden after he went out to have a cigarette.
Asked by prosecutor Julie Whitby why she went along with what Alford told her, she said: ‘Most children, if an adult is telling you to do something, you’ll do it … especially if you are drunk or impaired.’
In a video of her police interview played to the court, she revealed she had never had sex before.
‘I told him to stop because I didn’t want to have sex with an old man,’ she said.
The 15-year-old told officers during her interview how ‘we were all just like dozing off… that was when John started to touch me’. It made her feel ‘absolutely sick’, she added.
He appeared on Grange Hill as the happy-go-lucky Robbie Wright, performing on its landmark anti-drugs song Just Say No
She said she immediately showered after being dropped off at the other complainant’s house later that day as she was ‘stressing out’.
Both went into the bathroom together and ‘spoke about everything that happened’, she added.
Jurors heard that the girls didn’t mention the alleged assaults as soon as they happened as they had been drinking ‘a fair amount of vodka’.
The older girl finally revealed the abuse while visiting a different friend’s home on April 11.
‘I had a mental breakdown to my best mate’s mum in the garden and she called my mum. (I was) crying, screaming, very sad,’ she said.
Alford angrily denied touching either girl during his police interview, saying: ‘None of this makes sense.
‘It’s a set-up. I didn’t rape anyone. I am not a nonce. This is f****** scandalous.’
He claimed he had been outside when the then 14-year-old was suddenly ‘sitting on my lap with her arms around me, trying to kiss me. I recoiled, I stood up… I literally had to prise her off’.
He later had guest appearances on shows such as The Bill (pictured alongside series regular Rene Zagger)
John Alford (right) as Robbie Wright alongside co-stars John Drummond and George Christopher in Grange Hill
He added: ‘It was quite obvious that she was very drunk and being flirtatious.
‘I did not reciprocate in any way, shape or form at any time.’
Crying while giving evidence in court, he told jurors he ‘never touched either of them girls’, adding there was ‘no DNA’ evidence and he would stand by his denial ‘until the day I die’.
Alford suggested he was the victim of a blackmail plot and described a phone call he received on April 10, 2022, from ‘an Irish-sounding traveller-type voice’.
‘He said “Is that John? Do yourself a favour and come to Broxbourne car park, Hoddesdon”,’ the defendant said.
‘I said something stupid like “I’m with my children”. Then he said to bring the money and I said to f*** off.
The actor told police that they were ‘going to extort money from me’.
But the jury heard there was no material supporting these claims on the defendant’s phone or those of his young victims.
Alford, pictured leaving prison in July 1999 after he had served time for supplying drugs following a downmarket tabloid sting
Ms Whitby also told the court: ‘Mr Shannon was in no doubt both the girls were under 16.’
Alford had denied two charges of engaging in non-penetrative sexual activity with a girl aged under 16 and two of engaging in penetrative activity with a girl under 16.
He had also pleaded not guilty to assaulting a female aged 13 or over by penetration with part of body and sexual assault on a female.
His trial was originally meant to be heard in December but was postponed when Alford collapsed the day before it was due to start and sought treatment, initially at a hospital near his home in Holloway, north London.
He slumped in the dock with his head in his hands and shook his head as the verdicts were returned on September 5 after the jury had deliberated for more than 13 hours over three days.
He was also heard saying: ‘Wrong, I didn’t do this.’
There were gasps from members of his family in the public gallery as he learned his fate.
Alford was bailed until his sentencing to allow probation and expert psychiatric reports to be prepared about the ‘degree of dangerousness’ he presented but Recorder Overton warned him he would be jailed.
The shamed actor – who was tried under his real name of John Shannon – saw his career fall apart after supplying drugs to the shamed ‘Fake Sheikh’, journalist Mazher Mahmood
Speaking to a camera crew afterwards, he continued to protest his innocence, saying: ‘There’s witness statements that haven’t been heard and that will be part of my appeal – very important witness statements…
‘My defence has been hindered since day one. I’m an innocent man.’
Throughout the tirade, a woman’s voice could be heard repeatedly saying his name in an apparent attempt to stop him talking.
The Glasgow-born actor briefly appeared in ITV sitcom Now and Then before making his name playing Robbie Wright in BBC school drama Grange Hill in 1985, when he was 13 years old.
He landed the role after training at Anna Scher Theatre performing arts school in north London alongside Sid Owen and Patsy Palmer, who both appeared in EastEnders.
But he ended up in another popular role as fireman Billy Ray in ITV’s London’s Burning for five years from 1993.
Alford starred on the show at the height of its popularity when it pulled in more than 18million viewers a night.
The show became ITV’s third longest-running drama behind only Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
He later appeared on reality show Trust Me I’m A Beauty Therapist (third from left) as he tried to revive his career
Alford also had chart success, with several top 40 singles produced by Stock/Waterman, with his debut release, Smoke In Your Eyes, reaching number 13. Blue Moon/Only You later reached the top ten.
His career was derailed after he was jailed for nine months when he supplied cocaine and cannabis to former News of the World journalist Mazher Mahmood, known as the ‘fake sheikh’.
Asked in court by Mr Rawat about the 1999 trial, he said: ‘I defended myself, which probably wasn’t the cleverest thing to do at the time.’
He said he had been ‘blacklisted’ after the conviction, although he later received a payment of £500,000 from the now defunct newspaper in relation to allegations that his phone had been hacked.
Discussing the impact on his mental health and drinking, Alford added: ‘It had quite a detrimental impact on my mental health and my outlook, trust, paranoia.
‘A bottle of scotch always covers your back, doesn’t it?’
Alford described himself as a ‘weekly binger’ in terms of his drinking at the time of the allegations, adding: ‘I’m an arsehole when I’m drunk to be honest with you.’
Jurors were told that he suffers from mental health issues, including ‘anxiety, depression and paranoia’ and uses a hearing aid.
Despite the setback after the drugs bust, Alford returned to acting in the early 2000s and appeared in the film Mike Bassett: England Manager and reality programme Trust Me – I’m a Beauty Therapist in 2001 and 2003.
He also had parts in Casualty and played a prison guard in 2017 British movie The Hatton Garden Job.
Speaking after the sentencing today, senior Crown prosecutor Chris White said: ‘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.
‘Shannon’s sentence today sends a clear message – we will pursue those who target young people for their own gratification.’
Laura Harrison, a civilian investigator from Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Sexual Offences Investigation Team, said after the conviction: ‘Throughout this trial, Shannon consistently denied any sexual activity and maintained that the two child victims were attempting to extort him for money – despite the fact that neither child knew who Shannon was, nor that he was an actor, as they were born long after his career began.
‘At no point did Shannon accept responsibility, admit guilt, or show any remorse for his actions.
‘There is no doubt that Shannon’s behaviour that evening was predatory and carried out solely for his own sexual gratification.’
