John Alford’s cause of death has been revealed more than tree months after the disgraced actor, known for his roles in Grange Hill and London’s Burning, was found dead in his prison cell
London’s Burning star John Alford was found dead in his prison cell in March(Image: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire)
John Alford’s cause of death has been revealed. The actor 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, and was found dead in his prison cell in March at the age of 54.
The former TV star, who was tried under his real name of John Shannon, found fame on Grange Hill before becoming more widely known for his role in London’s Burning, but his television career dropped off more than 25 years ago and he roofer, scaffolder and taxi driver.
Following an inquest opening, Alford’s cause of death has now been publicly listed as ischaemic heart disease, meaning that he either had a a heart attack, a fatal arrhythmia or sudden cardiac death.
Just weeks into an eight-and-a-half year sentence for child sex offences, the former actor was 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.
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