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Former London's Burning star John Alford who died in prison just weeks after he was jailed for sexually abusing two girls left an estate worth just £200.
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he → see → estate
The 54-year-old actor played firefighter Billy Ray in the hit ITV series between 1993 and 1998 when the show had up to 18million viewers.
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show → play → viewers
Alford also had three top 30 hits in the UK singles chart in 1996, and played Robbie Wright in the BBC school life drama Grange Hill from 1985 until 1990.
But his career nosedived after he was caught in a sting by the News of the World's infamous Fake Sheikh reporter Mazher Mahmood who tricked him into supplying cocaine.
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who → have → cocaine
Alford, who had been one of the most recognised faces on TV, was sacked from the show and jailed for nine months for conspiracy to supply the Class A drug and cannabis to the undercover journalist.
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who → sack → journalist
He was jailed for another eight years and six months at St Albans Crown Court in Hertfordshire in January, after being convicted of sex offences against two girls.
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He → jail → girls
Alford, whose real name was John Shannon, was declared dead on March 13 after being found unresponsive on his bed at HMP Bure, a prison for sex offenders near Norwich.
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name → declare → Norwich
An inquest opening held in June at Norfolk Coroner's Court heard that he died from coronary heart disease and there were no suspicious circumstances to his death.
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he → hold → death
Probate records released today and seen by the Daily Mail confirm that Alford died intestate without leaving a will.
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Alford → release → will
A grant of probate revealed that he left assets valued at just £200 which will be split between his family.
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which → reveal → family
The document gave the address of the former actor as HMP Bure.
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document → give → Bure
He previously lived in Holloway, north London.
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He → live → Holloway
Glasgow-born Alford moved to London early in his childhood where he attended stage school.
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he → bear → school
As a child actor, he appeared in Not the Nine O'Clock News in 1982 and had a role in 1983 in the short-lived ITV series Now and Then.
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he → appear → series
Alford went on to join Grange Hill in the mid-1980s, playing rebellious pupil Robbie Wright.
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Alford → go → Wright
He was in the cast when they released Just Say No, an anti-drugs song that reached number five in the UK charts.
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that → release → charts
Alford's best-known role came in 1993 when he joined London's Burning in the sixth series of the drama about members of London Fire Brigade.
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he → know → Brigade
His popularity in the show raised his profile and led to a pop career with his first single Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, reaching a chart position of number 13.
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Smoke → raise → number
A follow-up double single release of Blue Moon and Only You cracked the top ten, landing at number nine.
His final release, If/Keep on Running, reached number 24.
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release → crack → number
The follow-up, Let It Be Me, was withdrawn before its release in early 1997.
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It → let → 1997
John Alford played fireman Billy Ray in ITV drama London's Burning from 1993 to 1998
Alford was caught out by reporter Mahmood, who dressed as Arab royalty to fool his high-profile targets in a series of tabloid stings.
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who → play → stings
Mahmood offered him £100,000 and the chance to join a celebrity line-up at the opening of a Dubai nightclub where he would get the chance to meet Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone, and possibly work with them in future.
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he → offer → future
The supposed Sheikh then asked the actor to supply him with drugs which resulted in him being exposed as a 'dealer' in the now-defunct News of the World.
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him → suppose → World
Judge Stephen Robbins told Alford that although entrapment had played a significant part in the sting, he 'willingly went along with the idea'.
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he → tell → idea
After serving his jail sentence, Alford took on much smaller roles in shows such as Casualty, the 2017 film The Hatton Garden Job, and Sky drama Mile High, in which he played a drug-dealing flight attendant.
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he → serve → attendant
Alford was banned from the roads for 16 months in January 2006 for drink-driving after a crash in Islington, north London, in April the previous year.
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Alford → ban → April
He was in trouble with the law again in 2018 when he was accused of assaulting two police officers after jumping behind the wheel of a bin lorry left with a smashed windscreen in Camden.
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he → accuse → Camden
During his arrest, he was heard shouting that he was 'fighting corrupt police officers', telling officers they were 'in cahoots with News of the World' and 'in cahoots with Mazher Mahmood, and asking them 'did [former News of the World proprietor] Rupert Murdoch send you here to kill me?'
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Murdoch → hear → me
Alford admitted two counts of resisting an officer and was given a 12-month community order with a 25-day rehabilitation activity.
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Alford → admit → activity
A Hertfordshire Police mugshot of John Alford, who died in prison months after being jailed
He was also ordered to pay £400 compensation and serve a 14-day curfew on an electronic tag.
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He → die → tag
The former actor was jailed in January after having sex with a drunk 14-year-old at a house party and sexually assaulting her 15-year-old friend.
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actor → jail → friend
St Albans Crown Court heard how Alford had been left with his two young victims aged 14 and 15 in the early hours of the morning after others at the house in Hertfordshire went to bed on April 8, 2022.
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others → hear → April
He had earlier spent the evening at a pub with the father of a third girl before going to the property where the offences took place.
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offences → spend → place
Alford bought a bottle of vodka at a nearby petrol station before returning and asking the 14-year-old to sit on his lap when he went to the garden for a cigarette.
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he → buy → cigarette
He kissed the girl before having sex with her, and had sex with the girl again in a downstairs toilet after pulling her onto him.
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He → kiss → him
Alford then sexually assaulted the older girl while sitting between the two victims.
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Alford → assault → victims
In a victim impact statement, the younger girl - who had turned 18 by the time of the trial in September last year - said Alford's sexual assault had 'affected me and my family in every way'.
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assault → turn → way
Alford had denied the offences and claimed he was the victim of a blackmail plot after someone rang him and tried to 'extort money from me'.
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someone → deny → me
But the jury convicted him of all charges by a ten to two majority verdict after 13 hours deliberation during the week long trial.
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jury → convict → trial
