British actor John Alford, who was convicted of sexually abusing a teenage girl, has been found dead in his prison cell. He was 54 years old.
“John Shannon died in prison on 13 March 2026. As with all deaths in custody, this will be investigated by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman,” a Prison Service spokesperson told the BBC in a statement on Saturday. (After Alford’s acting career, he returned to his real name, John Shannon.)
The cause of death has not yet been announced.
Alford played Robbie Wright in the BBC series Grange Hill from 1985 to 1990 and Billy Ray in the ITV series London’s Burning from 1993 to 1998.
In 1996, they had three top 30 hits in the UK Singles Chart.
As Alford’s music and acting career waned, he began working as a roofer, jumper, and minitaxi driver, and had several run-ins with the law.
In 1999, he was convicted of supplying drugs to undercover reporter Mazah Mahmoud and sentenced to nine months in prison.
Seven years later, Alford was convicted of drink-driving after crashing into three vehicles in April 2005 and was given a 16-month driving ban and a fine.
In 2018, Alford pleaded not guilty to two counts of assaulting a police officer and pleaded guilty to criminal damage to a Camden Council-owned vehicle.
The following year, the actor was sentenced to 12 months of community service after pleading guilty to two counts of resisting a police officer.
In July 2024, Alford was charged with sexually assaulting two teenage girls two years earlier.
Alfred denied the allegations in court, saying, “I didn’t do it. There’s no DNA. I didn’t touch him. I think science has proven his innocence.”
But in September last year, he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl at a home in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire.
After being found guilty, Alford reportedly yelled, “It’s wrong, I didn’t do it.” He was sentenced in January to eight and a half years in prison.
