Actor John Alford jailed for sex assaults on teens

Actor John Alford has been sentenced to eight and a half years in jail after sexually assaulting two teenage girls.

The former London’s Burning and Grange Hill star bought a bottle of vodka for the 14 and 15-year-old girls which they drank at a friend’s house in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, in April 2022.

The 54-year-old, of Holloway, north London, stood trial at St Albans Crown Court under his real name of John Shannon.

Jurors found him guilty on four counts of sexual activity with the younger girl, and of sexual assault and assault by penetration relating to the older teenager.

Recorder Caroline Overton said the offences had a “significant and ongoing impact” on the victims’ lives.

Prosecuting lawyer Chris White added: “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.”

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

He played Billy Ray in the ITV drama London’s Burning and Robbie Wright in BBC series Grange Hill.

Both girls were at the house on the 9 April 2022 when he arrived after drinking with the homeowner at a nearby pub.

The man who owned the house was friends with Alford and was the father of a third girl in the group.

Alford bought about £250 worth of food, alcohol and cigarettes from a nearby petrol station in the early hours of the morning.

According to the younger girl, Alford had sex with her in the garden of the house and in a toilet.

She told police she asked him to stop “three or four times”, adding: “I told him to stop because I didn’t want to have sex with an old man.”

The former actor sexually touched the older girl as she was half asleep on a living room sofa.

Police then received a report from the 15-year-old’s mother two days later.

Alford told police the girls were attempting to extort money from him, and claimed he was the victim of a “set-up”.

He began to cry as he told jurors: “I haven’t done this.

“No DNA. I didn’t touch them. I think science proves me not guilty.”

Alford had previous convictions – which included supplying drugs in 1999 when he was jailed for nine months – although none for sex offences.

He had told jurors he was “blacklisted” from acting roles, after he was lured to a hotel by News of the World journalist Mazher “Fake Sheikh” Mahmood, who was posing as an Arabian prince.

At sentencing, defence barrister Mohammed Bashir said: “The impact upon the girls has been great but it’s important to note that in that time Mr Shannon has not committed any further offences.”

The younger girl said in a statement, read at court on Wednesday, that being sexually assaulted had “affected me and my family in every way”.

In her impact statement, the older girl said “this man destroyed my mental wellbeing”.