Overview
- John Alford, tried under his real name John James Shannon, was found unresponsive in his cell at HMP Bure on March 13 and later pronounced dead.
- At an inquest opening on June 16 the area coroner provisionally recorded ischaemic heart disease, meaning a heart attack, fatal arrhythmia or sudden cardiac death is likely.
- Alford was convicted in September of multiple sexual offences against two teenage girls and was jailed in January for eight years and six months, dying less than three months into that sentence.
- Trial evidence presented that he supplied alcohol to the victims at a Hertfordshire party in April 2022 and sexually assaulted a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old, which formed the basis of the convictions.
- Because he died in state detention the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman is conducting an independent investigation and the coroner has fixed a full inquest for September 11 to examine the circumstances.