Former London’s Burning actor John Alford is facing a trial charged with sex offences involving a girl aged under 16 – charges he full denies. The 52-year-old dad-of-two, who rose to fame in BBC school drama Grange Hill, is charged under his real name John Shannon.
Alford, of Holloway, North London, is due to stand trial at St Albans Crown Court from December 2 this year, with a time estimate of seven days. Alford is accused of four counts of sexual activity with a child, and two counts relating to a second female – of sexual assault and assault by penetration, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
The CPS said the Glasgow-born actor denied all charges at a plea hearing in September last year. The case is due back in court for a pre-trial review hearing on November 18 at St Albans Crown Court.
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Grange Hill was a series portraying life at a typical comprehensive school in a fictional North London borough of Northam. The show began in 1978 and was one of the longest-running programmes on British television when it ended in 2008 after 15 series. Alford was 13-years-old when he first played Robbie Wright in the show in 1985.
His break came after he trained at Anna Scher’s stage school in North London alongside EastEnders stars Sid Owen and Patsy Palmer, reports The Sun. Robbie had an on screen romance with Calley Donnington (Simone Hyams) and was part of the show’s anti-drugs single Just Say No.
After leaving Grange Hill, he became fireman Billy Ray in ITV drama London’s Burning from 1993 to 1998. Alford was on the show at the height of its success, which saw it become ITV’s third longest-running drama behind Coronation Street and Emmerdale. After his stint on the show, he worked as a scaffolder and minicab driver, but returned to acting in Casualty and a couple of films.
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