Actor John Alford sexually assaulted teenage girls at party, court told

Former London’s Burning actor John Alford sexually abused two teenage girls at a party, a court has heard.

The 53-year-old is accused of four counts of sexual activity with a 14-year-old and two counts relating to a second girl, then aged 15, of sexual assault and assault by penetration.

Opening his trial at St Albans Crown Court on Tuesday, prosecutors said Alford sexually assaulted both girls, who did not previously know him and were drunk, after visiting a property in Hertfordshire following a night-out at the pub.

All of the offences are alleged to have taken place in the early hours of April 9 2022 at the home of a third girl, who was friends with the alleged victims, where there was “a bit of a party” taking place, the court heard.

“They were drinking, they were chatting, they were spending time with each other,” prosecutor Julie Whitby said.

The 14-year-old girl had unsuccessfully tried calling her mother and ordering an Uber to leave after other friends left the property at around 12.30am, jurors were told.

Former Grange Hill actor Alford, who is charged under his real name John Shannon, had been at the pub with the third girl’s father, with both men arriving at the property at around 2am.

The alleged victims were left alone with the defendant after others at the property went to bed and he asked them how old they were.

“Mr Shannon was in no doubt that these two girls were both under 16,” Ms Whitby said.

“They just thought they were having an evening with a family friend.”

Alford then briefly left the property and went to a nearby petrol station, and came back with a bottle of vodka.

He asked the 14-year-old girl to sit on his lap after going outside into the property’s garden for a cigarette, which the girl described as feeling “a bit strange”, the court heard.

Alford then allegedly started to kiss and touch her before having sexual intercourse with her.

“She didn’t say stop beforehand, but she didn’t want it to happen,” Ms Whitby said.

Later in the evening, Alford then had sex with the girl for a second time in a downstairs toilet in the property after pulling her onto him, jurors were told.

“He asked her ‘Do you want this babe?’ and she said no,” Ms Whitby said.

It is also alleged that Alford then sexually assaulted a second 15-year-old girl.

Both girls did not say anything about the alleged assaults immediately after they happened as they had been drinking “a fair amount of vodka”, the prosecutor said.

Police received a third-party report from the 15-year-old girl’s mother on April 11 2022 outlining the allegations, jurors were told.

The defendant was then arrested the following day after both girls were interviewed.

In a statement provided to the force, Alford said one of the two girls “kept on trying to kiss me” and had told him she was 17-years-old.

He added: “At no point did I touch her in any sexual way whatsoever.”

Alford said the two alleged victims were “trying to extort money from him and they were trying to trick him”, but no material supporting these claims was found on either the girls’ or the defendant’s phones when searched, Ms Whitby said.

The trial had been listed to start in December last year but the court was previously told Alford had been admitted to hospital and was medically unwell.

Alford, of Holloway, north London, appeared in the dock wearing a white shirt and pair of headphones.

He denies all the charges against him.

The trial continues.

Published: 26/08/2025 by Radio NewsHub