John Alford found dead in prison cell

John Alford, who reverted to his birth name John Shannon after his acting career, was found dead in a prison cell on 13 March 2026. He was 54. "John Shannon died in prison on 13 March 2026. As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate," a Prison Service spokesman said.

A cause of death has not yet been released. Alford played Robbie Wright in the BBC series Grange Hill from 1985 to 1990 and Billy Ray in the ITV series London’s Burning from 1993 to 1998, and he had three Top 30 hits in 1996. When his music and acting career dwindled, he worked as a roofer, scaffolder and mini-cab driver and had several run-ins with the law.

In 1999 he was convicted of supplying drugs to undercover reporter Mazher Mahmood and served nine months in prison. Seven years later he was convicted of drink-driving after crashing into three vehicles, was banned from driving for 16 months and fined.

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