London's Burning actor jailed for sexually assaulting teenage girls

London's Burning star John Alford has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years for sexually assaulting two girls while they were drunk.

The 54-year-old attacked them at a friend's home in Hertfordshire in April 2022 after a night at the pub. The trial heard he bought food, alcohol and cigarettes from a petrol station in the early hours, including a bottle of vodka which the victims drank.

Alford had intercourse with the 14-year-old in the garden and a downstairs toilet, and inappropriately touched the 15-year-old while she was half asleep on a sofa. The older girl said she felt "absolutely sick" and planned to keep it a secret but had a "mental breakdown" to her friend's mother days later.

Alford told the jury the charges were a "set up" and the girls were "going to extort money from him". The former actor rose to fame in BBC children's show Grange Hill before starring in hit ITV firefighting drama London's Burning in the 1990s.

He denied four counts of sexual activity against the younger girl and sexual assault and assault by penetration of the 15-year-old. However, he was found guilty at St Albans Crown Court in September.

When the verdicts were read out, he put his head in his hands, shouting "wrong, I didn't do this". All of the offences happened at the home of a third girl, whose father was friends with Alford.

The jury was shown a video of the 14-year-old's police interview in which she said she'd never had sex before the attack. She told officers: "I told him to stop because I didn't want to have sex with an old man." The younger girl said in a victim statement read on her behalf that the assault "affected me and my family in every way".

The older girl said Alford had "destroyed my mental wellbeing". Read more from Sky News:Dozens killed as crane falls on to moving train in ThailandKiefer Sutherland arrested after allegedly assaulting driver Alford shook his head as recorder Caroline Overton outlined the offences before sentencing him at St Albans Crown Court on Wednesday.

Chris White, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said the disgraced star was "fully aware of the girls' ages, yet he chose to exploit them". Alford - whose real name is John Shannon - must serve two-thirds of his sentence in custody and the rest on licence.

Alford was previously jailed for nine months in 1999 for supplying drugs to the News Of The World's "fake sheikh". He later sued the paper over claims it tapped his phone and hacked his voicemail and received £500,000 compensation..