John James Shannon (30 October 1971 – 13 March 2026), better known by his stage name John Alford, was a British actor, singer, convicted child sex offender and drug dealer. He played Robbie Wright in the BBC series Grange Hill (1985–1990) and Billy Ray in the ITV series London's Burning (1993–1998). He also had three Top 30 hits on the UK singles chart in 1996. == Life and career == Born in Glasgow, Alford attended Anna Scher's stage school from... [more on Wikipedia]