Prison in lockdown after Paedo London’s Burning star John Alford discovered useless in cell
A large scale investigation is underway at one of Britain’s prisons after paedophile John Alford was found dead in his cell.
London’s Burning disgraced star John Alford was found dead in his bed by prison staff, according to reports and now the Category C jail where he was being kept is “in lockdown”. Sources say a large scale inquiry is underway to determine how the actor died after he was found unresponsive on Friday (March 13) when guards went to wake him up.
He was being held at the Category C HMP Bure near Norwich and medics were called, but could not revive him. Now questions are being asked about what happened with authorities now investigating. A source told the Daily Star: “Enquiries are ongoing and they will want to wrap it up quickly.
“A cause of death will need to be worked out and then there will be questioning of guards and likely other inmates, the prison will effectively be in lockdown after an inmate death while the initial questions are asked.
“They will want to make sure there is no wrongdoing.”
The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman are now investigating the death after Alford, 54, died in prison months after being jailed for sexually assaulting two teenage girls.
“He didn’t wake up in the morning,” a source continued.
“He was in his bed and they thought he was just asleep. But when they tried to wake him there was no response and they realised he was dead.”
The paedophile was jailed for eight-and-a-half years in January after he was found guilty of sex assaults which occurred during a party at a friend’s home.
He was convicted of four counts of sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl as well as charges of sexual assault and assault by penetration relating to a 15-year-old girl at a property in Hertfordshire on April 9 2022.
A court heard how, charged under his real name John Shannon, he sexually assaulted the girls while they were drunk following a night out at the pub.
St Albans Crown Court heard that Alford bought some £250 worth of food, booze and cigarettes from a nearby petrol station, including a bottle of vodka which the victims subsequently drank.
He then had sexual intercourse with the 14-year-old girl in the garden of the home and later in a downstairs toilet and inappropriately touched the 15-year-old girl as she lay half asleep on the living room sofa.
The 15-year-old girl said in her evidence she had felt “absolutely sick” following the assault and had planned to keep the incident secret before having a “mental breakdown” to her friend’s mother on April 11.
Alford told jurors during the trial that all the allegations were “scandalous” and a “set-up”, and that there was no DNA evidence to support the assaults.
He told police that the girls were making the allegations to “extort money” from him, and that he suffered from mental health issues including anxiety, depression and paranoia.
A Prison Service spokesman said: “John Shannon died in prison on March 13 2026.
“As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate.”
