London’s Burning paedophile John Alford died in jail with no will and £200 to his name

Disgraced actor John Alford, who was known for starring in Grange Hill and London’s Burning, died in prison with no will and just £200 to his name after being convicted on several counts of sexual assault

John Alford died in prison with no will and with his entire estate valued at just £200, according to probate records.

The disgraced former 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.

In June, his cause of death was publicly listed as ischaemic heart disease and now it has emerged that the actor, known for his roles in Grange Hill and London’s Burning, left almost nothing behind.

Probate records show John, whose real name was John Shannon, did not leave a will, and his estate was valued at only £200, according to The Sun.

HM Prison Bure in Badersfield, Norwich has been listed as his official place of address on paperwork, and the High Court signed off letters of admiration that gave his relative Angela Shannon, of Enfield in North London, the rights to deal with the estate following his 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.

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.

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***ing scandalous.”

In court, he told how he would stand by his denial “until the day I die”. 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.'”

John’s television career after his initial rise to fame saw him appear in episodes of Casualty and Mile High, and he also released a self-titled studio album in 1998. But after things dropped off in showbiz, he found work as a taxi driver, roofer and scaffolder.

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