John Alford was a massive star in the ’90s, appearing in famous shows including Grange Hill and London’s Burning. In a horrifying fall from grace, he has now been jailed for sexually assaulting two teenage girls during a “sleepover”
Nineties heartthrob John Alford once had the world at his feet, but now he’s a convicted paedophile facing eight and a half years in jail.
Charged under his real name John Shannon, the former actor was found guilty of sexually assaulting two teenage girls, aged 14 and 15, at a friend’s house in Hoddesdon, Herfordshire, in April 2022. During the trial, he denied having sexual activity with the victims. Alford, 54, from Holloway, north London, was found guilty at trial in September. He was seen putting his head in hands and shouted “wrong, I didn’t do this” from the dock as the verdict was read out.
Today, he was sentenced to eight and a half years after the jury found him guilty of two counts of sexual activity with a child, two counts of penetrative sexual activity of a child, assault by penetration and sexual assault.
But how did Alford go from one of the most in-demand stars to a convicted paedophile? Here, we take a look back at his fall from grace…
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Booze and gambling
Alford attended Anna Scher’s stage school from age 11 in London, landing his first role in ITV sitcom Now and Then before landing the role as Robbie Wright in BBC’s Grange Hill in 1985.
But the young actor found fame too tough to handle and started drinking heavily. By the time he left the show at the age of 17 he had reportedly spent up to £80,000 on alcohol and gambling. He later confessed to drinking up to 18 bottles of beer and nine shots of spirits a night.
“When I got ill I went to see somebody. They looked at my liver and told me to stop, which my mum had been telling me for years,” he said.
In 1993, he took his first highest profile adult role as fireman Billy Ray in ITV’s London’s Burning, remaining in the role for five years. He launched a spin-off singing career and scored three top 30 singles in 1996, including Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and Blue Moon/Only You.
But not everything went according to plan for Alford, even at this stage. In December 1995 he controversially ended up stripping for the Christmas issue of the magazine For Women.
“My agent set me up for a photo shoot for a women’s magazine and I arrived there and suddenly realised it was a soft-porn magazine. I had to strip naked and pose and I was too embarrassed to admit I had made a gross mistake.” In December 1996, just before he was due to appear in pantomime in Sunderland, Alford collapsed and was taken to hospital in Newcastle suffering from a rare blood disorder.
Drug sting
In 1999 his stellar success came to an end when he was sacked after being convicted of supplying drugs and was sentenced to nine months in jail. Alford had been lured to a hotel by the News of the World’s Mazher “Fake Sheikh” Mahmood, who was posing as an Arabian prince, and secretly filmed supplying cocaine and cannabis, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.
The judge at Snaresbrook said there had been an element of entrapment in the case. Alford told jurors in St Albans he had been “blacklisted” as an actor following that conviction.
He told Sunday People: “I had been on the party scene, going to clubs and taking cocaine, since I was young. But I’d put the drugs behind me by that point. Stupidly, I decided to do what they asked and get them drugs. I just felt I was totally in over my head. I was wrong to sort out the deal. If it wasn’t for Mahmood there would have been no drug deal. I wasn’t a drug dealer, I was an actor.”
Mahmood was eventually exposed as a fake in a court hearing where he was found to have altered evidence in the collapsed drugs trial of singer Tulisa Contostavlos. But it wasn’t in time for Alford who had already lost work as a result of the scandal.
Jurors were told, that after legal action, Alford received a £500,000 settlement from the News of the World’s publishers. He told Panorama: “No one can give me the 18 years I’ve lost, no one can give me that back. I hope this is the first day of a new life for me.”
He struggled to find work after and was reportedly forced to earn cash as a roofer, scaffolder and mini-cab driver to make ends meet. According to the Sunday People, at points he had to live off benefits. In 2001, Alford gained a role in the film Mike Bassett: England Manager. In 2003, he played the part of drug-dealing and scheming flight attendant Dean in Mile High.
Drink driving
In January 2006, he was banned from driving for 16 months and fined for drink-driving. He had crashed his Rover car into three other vehicles in Islington, north London, on April 2, 2005. He also pleaded guilty to driving a defective vehicle because one of his car’s front wheels was dangerously deflated.
Highbury Corner magistrates ordered him to pay a £150 fine and £100 in costs in addition to the driving ban. Alford has since had other driving-related legal issues, including criminal damage to a council vehicle in 2018.
Assault on police officer
On October 1, 2018, Alford appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrate’s court where he pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault on a police officer and guilty to a charge of criminal damage to a vehicle belonging to Camden Council on September, 1, 2018 in Holloway London.
He was bailed to appear for trial at the same court on November 29, 2018. On January 29, 2019, Alford pleaded guilty to two counts of resisting an officer and was given a 12-month community order.
‘Sleepover’ abuse
Alford sexually assaulted girls aged 14 and 15 at a friend’s home on April 9, 2022. He was convicted on six counts including sexual assault, penetrative sexual activity with a child and penetrative sexual assault. When the verdicts were read out, he placed his head in his hand and said: “Wrong, I didn’t do this!”
Prosecuting barrister Julie Whitby said both of the girls were drunk when the incidents happened. All of the offences took place at the home of a third girl whose father was friends with Alford.
The actor purchased approximately £250 worth of food, alcohol and cigarettes from a close by petrol station in the early hours of the morning, including a bottle of vodka which the teenagers drank. Alford then had sexual intercourse with the younger girl in the garden of the house and later in a downstairs toilet. He then inappropriately touched the 15-year-old as she lay half asleep on a sofa in the living room.
Police had received a third-party report from the then 15-year-old girl’s mother on April 11 2022 outlining the allegations, jurors were previously told. The defendant was then arrested the following day after both girls were interviewed.
In a statement provided to the force, Alford said one of the two girls “kept on trying to kiss me” and had told him she was 17 years old. He added: “At no point did I touch her in any sexual way whatsoever.” Jurors had heard that he told the police after his arrest: “This stinks. This is a set-up.”
The actor cried as he told jurors: “I haven’t done this. No DNA. I didn’t touch them. I think science proves me not guilty.” The prosecution said a “bit of a party” had been staged, which Alford denied. He said he thought he might be the victim of an extortion plot.
“I am not a nonce,” he said. “I wouldn’t touch a child. If you do that where I’m from, that’s called street justice – I wouldn’t have made it to the court. If anyone in my area believed I could have possibly done this, I would be dead by now.”
Recorder Caroline Overton said the attacks happened while the girls were enjoying a sleepover at a friend’s house during the Easter holidays. She said after the other adults went to bed, at 4.30am, Alford went to a nearby garage where he bought £269 worth of food and drink, including beer, rum and flavoured vodka.
She said the girls were in what should have been “a safe environment” while enjoying themselves, including recording TikTok videos. She said: “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 jury returned its verdict after 13 hours of deliberations with Alford found guilty on four counts of sexual activity with the younger girl, and of sexual assault and assault by penetration relating to the older teenager. Jurors at St Albans Crown Court were told that Alford had a number of previous convictions – although none for sex offences – and had been to jail.
In mitigation, Alford’s barrister said his client has been diagnosed with ADHD and other mental health issues. He said Alford now recognises he has a problem with alcohol, which “he has not really addressed throughout his life”. The court heard Alford is a dad to four children, aged between five and 19. He said Alford is likely to be targeted in prison because of “who he is”.
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