London's Burning and Grange Hill star John Alford to stand trial in December after being charged with alleged sex offences involving a child
London's Burning and Grange Hill star John Alford has been charged with alleged sex offences involving a child.
The 52-year-old has been accused of a total of six offences and was charged last year, police have confirmed.
The actor, whose real name is John Shannon, is facing four allegations of sexual activity with a child, one of sexual assault and one of sexual assault by penetration.
He was charged with the offences on July 16 2023, Hertfordshire Constabulary confirmed in a statement to MailOnline, following an investigation by the force's Specialist Sexual Offences Investigation Team.
The offences were allegedly committed in April 2022.
London's Burning and Grange Hill star John Alford has been charged with sex offences involving a child
Alford was best known for his role as fireman Billy Ray in ITV firefighting drama London's Burning
He got his start appearing as Robbie Wright in Grange Hill at the age of 13 - appearing on the anti-drugs single Just Say No
Alford also had parts in other programmes - seen here in a bit-part role on The Bill as Steve Weller opposite Rene Zagger
Alford also had a short-lived pop career, with three singles in the UK top 40 in 1996
Alford appeared at St Albans Crown Court on September 26 last year, where he pled not guilty.
He will return to St Albans Crown Court in December for a trial scheduled to last seven days, with a pre-trial review scheduled for November.
The charges were confirmed by the Crown Prosecution Service in a separate statement to the PA news agency.
Glasgow-born Alford first starred as Robbie Wright in school drama Grange Hill when he was just 13 years old in 1985.
He landed the role after training at Anna Scher's stage school in north London alongside Sid Owen and Patsy Palmer who starred in EastEnders, and briefly appeared in ITV sitcom Now and Then before joining Grange Hill.
However, he struggled with fame at a young age after leaving the school drama at 17, reportedly spending thousands of pounds on alcohol and gambling.
In 1999, he was reported to have confessed to drinking up to 18 bottles of beer and nine shots of spirits a night.
He later became a fan favourite when he played fireman Billy Ray in ITV drama London's Burning from 1993 to 1998.
The father-of-two starred on the show at the height of its popularity when it pulled in more than 18million viewers a night.
The show became ITV's third longest-running drama behind only Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
Alford also enjoyed several top 40 hit singles, produced by Stock/Waterman, following his TV success.
Glasgow-born Alford first starred as Robbie Wright in school drama Grange Hill when he was just 13 years old in 1985
He is pictured here starring in London's Burning alongside Ben Onwukwe
(L-R) Steven Houghton, Richard Walsh, Clive Wood, Michael Garner, Andrew Kazamia, Zoe Heyes, Ben Onwukwe, Glen Murphy and John Alford in London's Burning in 1996
John Alford (left) as Robbie and George Christopher (right) as Ziggy starring in Grange Hill
His debut song Smoke In Your Eyes reached No13 in the charts and saw him perform on Top Of The Pops.
He quit acting for a time, working as a scaffolder and a minicab driver, but returned to acting at the turn of the millenium.
Alford appeared in the film Mike Bassett: England Manager and reality programme Trust Me: I'm a Beauty Therapist in 2001 and 2003, before getting bit parts in Casualty and The Hatton Garden Job.
