John Alford, who was prosecuted under his real name John Shannon, was found dead in his prison cell in March just weeks after serving an eight-and-a-half-year sentence for child sexual abuse.
(Photo: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire)
John Alford’s cause of death has been revealed.
The actor, who has been convicted of four counts of sexual activity with a child, as well as two counts of sexual assault and penetrative assault on another woman, was discovered dead in his prison cell in March at the age of 54.
The former TV personality, who was convicted under his real name John Shannon, rose to prominence on Grange Hill before gaining wider recognition for his role in London’s Burning. However, the acting career disappeared more than 25 years ago, and he continued to work as a roofer, scaffolder and taxi driver.
Following the opening of an inquest, Alford’s cause of death is now officially recorded as ischemic heart disease, indicating that he suffered from either 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 lifeless in his bed at HMP Bure in Norfolk – a Category C prison housing male sex offenders.
From the moment he was arrested in 2022, the Grange Hill star flatly denied assaulting two teenage girls at a night out that same year. During his police questioning, Alford furiously denied the allegations, insisting: “None of this makes sense. It’s a set-up. I didn’t rape anybody. I’m not a nonce. This is bloody outrageous.” the mirror.
In the courtroom, he declared that he would maintain his denial ‘until the day I die’. Few could have foreseen how close that day really was.
Prosecuted under his real name John Shannon, he was found guilty last September of four charges of sexual activity with a child, plus two additional charges involving another female victim – sexual assault and assault by penetration. The court was told he supplied his young victims with alcohol before taking the 14-year-old’s virginity in a garden and in the toilet, despite her repeatedly saying no. He subsequently assaulted the 15-year-old against her will while she was falling asleep.
His account was that he had been outside when the then 14-year-old suddenly sat on my lap with his arms around me and tried to kiss me. I shot back, I got up… I literally had to praise her away’.
Tearfully giving his evidence, he informed the jury he ‘never touched any of the girls’, insisted there was no ‘dna’ evidence and suggested he had been the victim of an extortion scheme. He recounted a phone call he allegedly received on April 10, 2022, from “an Irish-sounding Traveler-like voice”.
“He said “Is that John? Do yourself a favor and come to Broxbourne car park, Hoddesdon,” Alford maintained. “I said something stupid like ‘I’m with my kids’. Then he said to take the money and I said to f*** off.'”.
But after hearing the disturbing evidence and testimony from his victims – and finding no trace of such a phone call – the jury rejected his version of events. When the guilty verdicts were read out, he dropped his head in his hands and protested, “Wrong, I didn’t do this!” He received a custodial sentence in January.
