News Story

Former London’s Burning actor John Alford has died in prison months after being jailed for sexually assaulting two teenage girls.

Alford, 54, was jailed for eight-and-a-half years in January after he was found guilty of the assaults which occurred during a party at a friend’s home.

He died at HMP Bure in Norfolk on Friday, the Prison Service said.

The former actor, who appeared in the BBC drama Grange Hill, was convicted of four counts of sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl and charges of sexual assault and assault by penetration relating to a 15-year-old girl at a property in Hertfordshire on April 9 2022.

Jurors heard during the trial that the defendant, charged under his real name John Shannon, sexually assaulted the girls while they were drunk following a night out at the pub.

A Prison Service spokesman said: “John Shannon died in prison on March 13 2026.

“As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate.”