John Alford’s final hours and chilling ‘message from beyond the grave’
John Alford has died in jail after being convicted of child sex crimes. The delusional star denied the charges to the end and seemingly poked fun at his own predicament in one of his final acts
Former London’s Burning star John Alford was found dead in his prison cell on Friday, March 13. Just weeks into an eight-and-a-half year sentence for child sex offences, the shamed 54 year old was reportedly found dead in his bed at HMP Bure in Norfolk – a category C prison that holds male sex offenders.
From the moment of his arrest in 2022, the Grange Hill actor denied assaulting two teenage girls at a sleepover in 2022. In his police interview, Alford angrily denied touching either girl, insisting: “None of this makes sense. It’s a set-up. I didn’t rape anyone. I am not a nonce. This is f****** scandalous.”
In court, he told how he would stand by his denial ‘until the day I die’. Little did anyone know how close death was.
Tried under his real name of John Shannon, last September he was convicted of four counts of sexual activity with a child, as well as two counts relating to a second female of sexual assault and assault by penetration. The court heard how he plied his young victims with booze before taking the 14 year old’s virginity in the garden and toilet – despite her repeatedly saying no. He then molested the 15 year old against her will as she was falling asleep.
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’.
Crying while giving evidence in court, he told jurors he ‘never touched either of them girls’, adding there was ‘no DNA’ evidence and suggested he was the victim of a blackmail plot. He described a phone call he supposedly 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”,’ Alford claimed. “I said something stupid like ‘I’m with my children’. Then he said to bring the money and I said to f*** off.'”
But after hearing the harrowing evidence and testament of his victims – and finding no evidence of any supposed phone call – jurors did not believe him. As the guilty verdicts were delivered in court, he buried his head in his hands, protesting: “Wrong, I didn’t do this!” He was jailed in January.
Behind bars, Alford is said to have maintained contact with his family. And it was his sister who he made his last known phone call to, asking her to place at bet for him. According to close friend, Justin Smith, John asked her to put a wager on a namesake horse called Johnny’s Jury at the Cheltenham Festival, who just so happened to win. For a guilty man who was so delusional that he believed his own innocence, the name has a chilling quality to it.
Justin posted on Facebook: “John liked a bet, he phoned his sister to put a bet on for him . . .” The horse, who’s odds were 20/1, won the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle on Friday but John had already been found unresponsive, The Sun reports.
His death was confirmed the next morning when Alford was found unresponsive in his bed, the publication claimed. There was no response when they tried to wake Alford, it was claimed, and medics were called.
“He didn’t wake up in the morning. He was in his bed and they thought he was just asleep. But when they tried to wake him there was no response and they realised he was dead,” a source said.
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 attacked the girls at a sleepover at a friend’s house during the Easter holidays. The impromptu gathering was hosted at the home of a third girl – whose father knew Alford – following an evening at the pub.
None of the teens had previously met the Grange Hill star. The evening eventually came to a close and everyone went to bed. Apart from Alford was was the only adult left with the girls, who were aged 15 and 14. The sex offender plied his victims with alcohol, making a trip to a nearby petrol station at 4:30am to buy £250 worth of food, cigarettes and alcohol – including rum, beer and flavoured vodka.
The court heard how he had been chatting to the girls and was aware of their ages. Despite this, the father-of-four had sexual intercourse with the 14 year old girl in the garden and later in a downstairs toilet. He also indecently touched the 15 year old girl as she lay semi-conscious on the living room settee.
In a video of her police interview shown to the court, the 14 year old said she had never had sex prior to that night and did not give her consent. “I told him to stop because I didn’t want to have sex with an old man,” she said.
The court heard Alford asked her ‘do you want this babe?’ to which she responded “no”, asking him to stop “three or four times”.
Meanwhile, the 15 year old girl said: “We were all just like dozing off. That was when John started to touch me.” She felt “absolutely sick” following the assault and immediately took a shower after being dropped off at the home of the other girl Alford attacked.
She told how they went to the bathroom together and “spoke about everything that happened”, before discussing the attacks again whilst visiting a different friend’s house two days later. Remembering the moment, she stated: “I had a mental breakdown to my best mate’s mum in the garden and she called my mum.”
Alford played Robbie Wright in Grange Hill(Image: Internet Unknown )
Recorder Caroline Overton informed the court that the girls were in what should have been “a safe environment” whilst having fun at the sleepover. She told Alford: “You were the one remaining adult. You were a trusted family friend and you were fully aware the girls were 14 and 15 years of age.”
The two girls say they are shells of the vibrant teenagers they once were. In her victim impact statement, the 14 year old said: “I’m the victim of penetrative sexual assault. Being sexually assaulted has affected my family in every way.”
The girl detailed how, following the assault, she had to undergo a sexual health examination, though it couldn’t be completed as it caused her unbearable pain. She was also administered the morning after pill and received injections for HIV and other diseases, which left her with bruising.
She said: “I was scared people were going to notice and wonder why I had them. I had so much shame about the incident. I didn’t want to tell anyone.”
She revealed she eventually confided in her brother, who informed her parents, including her father who tried to console her. The girl explained: “My dad hugged me, but I didn’t feel comfortable with it because he was a man. It has affected me severely with school.
“I didn’t care about my GCSEs as this was the only thing that mattered. I wasn’t bothered about my personal hygiene or appearance. I was just existing. I’ve become protective of my friends and any girl I see. I’m always on the look out for a man doing something wrong. What happened to me will be with me forever, but I won’t let it change me.”
