Actor John Alford on trial for alleged abuse of minors, says he was targeted for extortion

Highlights:

• John Alford, 53, is accused of sexually abusing two girls aged 14 and 15 at a Hertfordshire party in 2022.
• Charges include sexual activity with a child, sexual assault and assault by penetration.
• Prosecutors allege both girls were drunk when the incidents occurred.
• Alford, whose real name is John Shannon, denies all allegations.
• The trial is taking place at St Albans Crown Court.

Former London’s Burning actor John Alford is on trial accused of sexually abusing two teenage girls at a house party in Hertfordshire on 9 April 2022.

The 53-year-old, from Holloway, north London, faces four counts of sexual activity with a 14-year-old and two charges involving a 15-year-old girl, including sexual assault and assault by penetration. He has denied all the charges.

Opening the case at St Albans Crown Court, prosecutor Julie Whitby told jurors that Alford, charged under his real name John Shannon, was “in no doubt” both girls were under 16.

Jurors heard that Alford and another man, the father of a third girl, arrived at the house in the early hours of the morning. Alford later returned from a petrol station with a bottle of vodka.

The prosecution said he asked the 14-year-old to sit on his lap, behaviour she described as “a bit strange”, before the alleged assaults took place in the garden and later in a toilet.

In a police interview played to the court, the girl said: “He raped me”, claiming she asked him to stop several times. She also told officers it was the first time she had had sex.

A 15-year-old girl also accused Alford of sexual assault. The court heard that both alleged victims had consumed “a fair amount of vodka” on the night in question and did not immediately disclose the incidents.

The matter came to light after the 15-year-old’s mother made a report to police two days later.

In a statement given to police, Alford denied the allegations, claiming one of the girls had told him she was 17 and had tried to kiss him. He insisted: “At no point did I touch her in any sexual way whatsoever.”

He also alleged that the two girls were attempting to extort money from him, but prosecutors said no evidence to support this claim was found on phones seized from either the complainants or the defendant.

The case continues at St Albans Crown Court, where jurors will hear further evidence in the coming days.