Former London’s Burning actor John Alford has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two girls.
The 53-year-old was charged with four counts of sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl and charges of sexual assault and assault by penetration relating to a 15-year-old girl.
The incidents occurred at a party at a friend’s home in Hertfordshire on 9 April 2022.
A jury at St Albans Crown Court convicted Alford of all charges on Friday.
That came after a week-long trial and more than 13 hours of deliberations.
Alford put his head in his hand and shouted “Wrong, I didn’t do this” from the dock as the verdicts were read out in court.
Sobbing could also be heard from the public gallery.
The 12-strong jury found Alford guilty on each of the six counts by a majority verdict of 10 to two.
Jurors heard during the trial that the defendant, charged under his real name John Shannon, sexually assaulted the girls when they were drunk following a night out at the pub.
All of the offences took place at the home of a third girl, whose father was friends with Alford.
The former actor, who appeared in the BBC drama Grange Hill, bought £250 worth of food, alcohol and cigarettes from a nearby petrol station in the early hours of the morning.
That included a bottle of vodka which the victims subsequently drank before the offending occurred.
Police received a third-party report from the 15-year-old girl’s mother outlining the allegations two days later, before the defendant was arrested.
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 said he had told police that the girls were “going to extort money” from him, and that he suffered from mental health issues including anxiety, depression and paranoia.
Recorder Caroline Overton granted Alford conditional bail ahead of his sentencing at the same court on 4 December.
She warned the defendant he had been convicted of “very serious matters” and should expect to receive a custodial sentence.
The bail conditions included a reinstated curfew for Alford between 6pm and 6am each day, to report to a police station on Mondays and Fridays and not to have contact with anyone under the age of 18 with the exception of his own family members.
Alford was previously convicted of supplying illicit drugs to former News of the World journalist Mazher Mahmood, who was known as the “fake sheikh”, following a trial in 1999.
Jurors heard he also received a payment of £500,000 from the news organisation in relation to allegations that his phone had been hacked.
