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Algerian Migrant Spared Jail for Sex Assault on Schoolgirl, 16

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Algerian Migrant Spared Jail for Sex Assault on Schoolgirl, 16

An Algerian migrant who sexually assaulted a vulnerable teenage schoolgirl in an alleyway has been spared an immediate jail term after receiving a suspended sentence.

Sofiane Belasri, 41, targeted the intoxicated 16-year-old after approaching her and her friends at Liverpool Street train station on July 4, 2024, where he offered to buy the group wine.

He then bought £12 worth of alcohol from a nearby shop before sitting with the teenagers on steps opposite the station. While there, he told the girl she was “beautiful” and touched her breasts over her clothing.

Police have since said they are reviewing the sentence imposed by the court following the case.

When the teenager told Belasri she was gay and not interested in him, he went on to make sexual remarks to her friends.

He then offered to buy them vapes if they gave him oral sex in an alleyway near the station.

One of the group went to nearby Bishopsgate Police station in the City of London to raise the alarm. Belasri was then arrested.

Prosecuting, Wajahat Sherwani read a victim impact statement in which she said: ‘Even though it was quite some time ago she feels cautious going out in London at night.’

Algerian migrant Sofiane Belasri, 41, was sentenced to two years jail, suspended for two years, after he was convicted of sexual assault and sexual touching

Algerian migrant Sofiane Belasri, 41, was sentenced to two years jail, suspended for two years, after he was convicted of sexual assault and sexual touching

Belasri has five previous convictions including theft and criminal damage between 2012 and 2024 but Derek Barry, defending, said it was an ‘out of character incident’.

The migrant failed to complete unpaid work following his last offence with 98 hours remaining.

His right to remain in Britain expired in 2017 but he then attempted to renew without success, the court heard.

Discussing his failure to complete the work, Mr Barry said: ‘He seems to have started off well and then tailed off and it is disappointing. 

‘He started off well and then perhaps did the ostrich and put his head in the sand and thought there would be no repercussions.’

Belasri, of Hackney, was sentenced to two years jail, suspended for two years, after he was convicted of sexual assault and sexual touching by a jury at Southwark Crown Court.

He was also banned from approaching a female under 18 in a public place, unless it is as a result of his employment or in an emergency situation, for 10 years.

He was also placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years, ordered to complete 15 sessions of the Building Choices programme (cognitive-behavioural programme) and a 20 hour rehabilitation activity requirement.

Sentencing Belasri, the judge, Mr Recorder Margia Mostafa, said: ‘The facts of the matter is you were taking advantage of a young girl who was drunk.

‘I take the view that you were attracted to the victim and offered to give the group money to buy alcohol. 

‘Having seen how drunk she was you decided to buy more alcohol for her in order to facilitate this offence.

‘You realised that she was drunk and young and thought you would take advantage of her.

‘Even though the incident happened a few years ago it still affects the girl deeply. She is cautious, especially cautious when she is in London. 

‘She feels very anxious around older people and in the presence of older men.

‘This incident has shaped how she feels when she is out late and makes her much more careful about where she is going. That is the impact on her.’

Detective Inspector Matthew Alexander, of the Public Protection Unit at the City of London Police, said: ‘I want to praise the victim and her friends for the bravery they have demonstrated in coming forward. 

‘Without her assistance we wouldn’t have been able to bring this case to court.

‘We recognise that reporting offences of this nature can be difficult, and we would encourage anyone who has been affected, or who has concerns about the safety of another person, to contact police.

‘Our specialist officers are trained to handle reports with care, sensitivity and professionalism, while working relentlessly to investigate offences and bring offenders to justice.

‘Everyone has the right to feel safe. We will continue working closely with partners and communities to identify offenders, protect vulnerable people and keep the City a safe place for all who live, work and visit here.

‘We are reviewing the sentence handed down by the court.’

Coast Guard Searches for Missing Family of 4 After Small Plane Vanishes Between Bahamas and Florida

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Coast Guard Searches for Missing Family of 4 After Small Plane Vanishes Between Bahamas and Florida

Pilot survives emergency landing off Boca Raton beach

The hosts of “Fox & Friends” examined striking video showing 23-year-old pilot Faith Tenkley surviving an emergency water landing off Boca Raton, Florida, on August 22. Tenkley managed to steer her single-engine plane away from beachgoers and paddleboarders before swimming to shore unharmed, drawing praise from local officials for her calm, decisive and professional response.

The U.S. Coast Guard is assisting in the search for a small plane carrying four members of a Florida family that Bahamian authorities believe may have “crash-landed” in the ocean after taking off from Great Harbour Cay.

Family members identified those on board as pilot Mario Lamar, 80, his wife, Lili, 79, and two of their grandchildren, Sofia Sosa, 28, and Christian Sosa, 22, the Miami Herald reported. The group was flying in a PA-34 Piper, a five-seat aircraft, bound for Opa-locka, Florida.

“Please help,” Silvia Larrieu, the couple’s niece, told the newspaper. “I ask anybody out there, if you can help with search and rescue efforts, we would greatly appreciate it. We need to bring them home.”

Larrieu said the family was returning to Florida after spending Labor Day weekend at a vacation property in Great Harbour Cay, a place she said “they’ve spent their whole life going there.” FlightAware data showed the aircraft dropped from 10,000 feet to 3,700 feet in roughly three minutes before it disappeared from radar.

Great Harbour Cay is seen from an airplane during a flight from Spain to the Caribbean.

Great Harbour Cay in the Bahamas is seen from an airplane during a flight from Spain to the Caribbean. (NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Larrieu told the Miami Herald that Mario Lamar had years of experience as a pilot and always kept the aircraft in “pristine” shape.

U.S. Coast Guard Southeast said Monday it was assisting authorities in the Bahamas “following a report of a downed aircraft with four souls on board approx 15 mi off Andros Island,” with a Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane joining the search.

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The Royal Bahamas Police Force said it received a report around 2:20 p.m. on Monday “that an aircraft may have gone down in the waters off Red Bays.”

U.S. Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry surveillance plane flies over the Atlantic Ocean.

A U.S. Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry medium-range surveillance plane from Air Station Cape Cod flies over the Atlantic Ocean in Newport, R.I., on April 4, 2026. One of these planes has joined the search for the missing aircraft off the coast of the Bahamas. (Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

It added that air traffic control “confirmed that a PA-34 Piper five-seater aircraft, bearing tail number N212ML, departed Great Harbour Cay at approximately 11:12 a.m., en route to Opa-locka, Florida.”

“Air traffic control subsequently lost contact with the aircraft approximately 13 miles west of Andros Island,” the Royal Bahamas Police Force said.

U.S. Coast Guard aircraft at Opa Locka Executive Airport in Florida.

A U.S. Coast Guard aircraft is seen at Opa Locka Executive Airport in Opa Locka, Fla., on July 17, 2021. (REUTERS)

“The Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association (BASRA) advised that the United States Coast Guard had attempted to search the area for the missing aircraft,” police also said. “However, due to inclement weather, the search was postponed until conditions became favorable.”

Small Plane Vanishes on Bahamas-to-Miami Flight Path

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Small Plane Vanishes on Bahamas-to-Miami Flight Path

A South Florida family is anxiously awaiting answers after a small plane carrying four relatives home from the Bahamas vanished during what should have been a routine return trip.

Mario Lamar, 80, was at the controls of his Piper PA-34 Seneca on Monday morning with his wife, Lili Lamar, 79, and two grandchildren, Sofia Sosa, 28, and Christian Sosa, 22, aboard when the aircraft disappeared from radar, the Miami Herald reports.

The family had spent Labor Day weekend at the Lamars’ home on Great Harbour Cay and was expected to arrive back in Miami on Monday.

“They’ve spent their whole life going there. That’s like their second home,” Silvia Larrieu, the couple’s niece, said.

Larrieu said her uncle was a highly experienced pilot with four decades in the cockpit and was meticulous about maintaining his plane, which she described as being in “pristine” condition and equipped with the required safety gear.

The four family members departed from the airport at Great Harbour Cay at 10:13am when Sofia sent the family group chat a message that they were heading home. 

The message was the last time anyone had heard from her. Hours later, texts sent to the 28-year-old’s phone were left unreturned.

Mario Lamar, 80, was piloting his Piper PA-34 Seneca carrying his wife Lili Lamar, 79, back from the Bahamas on Monday when the airplane suddenly disappeared from the radar

Mario Lamar, 80, was piloting his Piper PA-34 Seneca carrying his wife Lili Lamar, 79, back from the Bahamas on Monday when the airplane suddenly disappeared from the radar

Sofia Sosa, 28

Christian Sosa, 22

Also onboard the aircraft were two of the couple’s grandchildren, Sofia Sosa, 28, and Christian Sosa, 22

The family grew concerned and decided to track Mario’s plane on FlightAware.

Data from the site shows the six-seat aircraft was last caught on radar just before 11am, when its speed rapidly fluctuated and it dropped from an altitude of around 10,000 feet in the air to 3,700 feet in just three minutes.

The plane’s path also showed it looped in a circle before it dropped off the radar over the waters off Red Bays.

FlightAware’s recording of the plane’s partial path toward Miami Executive Airport also shows it crossed rough weather near the north end of Andros Island.

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Air Traffic Control also reports it lost contact with the aircraft when it was approximately 13 miles west of Andros Island, which is where authorities are now focusing their search efforts.

But the rough weather conditions briefly blocked Bahamian forces from starting to search for the family.

In a desperate effort, Mario and Lili’s son decided to fly out to the island to grab a boat and aid in the search efforts.

‘Please help,’ Larrieu pleaded in a desperate video statement. ‘I ask anybody out there, if you can help with search and rescue efforts, we would greatly appreciate it.

‘We need to bring them home,’ she added.

The Piper PA-34 Seneca (like the one pictured) was last caught on radar at around 11am, when its speed rapidly fluctuated and it dropped from an altitude of around 10,000 feet in the air to 3,700 feet in just three minutes

The Piper PA-34 Seneca (like the one pictured) was last caught on radar at around 11am, when its speed rapidly fluctuated and it dropped from an altitude of around 10,000 feet in the air to 3,700 feet in just three minutes

The family has also asked Bahamian officials, the US Coast Guard and ‘all appropriate local authorities to work together and deploy every available resource to locate the aircraft and its four occupants as quickly as possible.

‘The Lamar and Sosa families are deeply grateful to everyone participating in the search and to those who have reached out with support,’ the family said in a statement to ABC News. 

The US Coast Guard has since announced that it is assisting the Royal Bahamas Defence Force in its search for the downed aircraft and had deployed an HC-144 Ocean Sentry plane to aid in the search efforts.

However, at 5pm EDT on Monday the Defence Force said its search has so far ‘yielded negative results.’

In the meantime, Raul E Rivero pleaded on social media for prayers for his cousin, Ralph Sosa, the father of Sofia and Christian.

‘This is difficult news to process being away,’ he lamented. ‘God, please help the rescuers find them safely.’ 

Small Plane Carrying Four Members of Florida Family Missing Off Bahamas

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Small Plane Carrying Four Members of Florida Family Missing Off Bahamas

Miami — A small aircraft carrying four members of the same family disappeared Monday while returning to Florida from the Bahamas, according to the U.S. Coast Guard and Bahamian authorities.

Bahamas police said the plane departed Great Harbour Cay at approximately 10:12 a.m. and was bound for Miami Executive Airport in Miami-Dade County. In a statement released by the family, relatives said the aircraft’s last known contact came at 11:04 a.m. near the western side of Andros Island.

“Police on the island of Andros are coordinating efforts to locate an aircraft believed to have crash-landed off the coast of Red Bays, North Andros,” Bahamas police said.

A relative told the Miami Herald that those aboard were 80-year-old pilot Mario Lamar; his wife, Lili Lamar, 79; and two of their grandchildren, Sofia Sosa, 28, and Christian Sosa, 22. A spokesperson for the family said Mario Lamar has more than four decades of flying experience.

“Please help,” Silvia Larrieu, Mario and Lili’s niece, pleaded in a video statement cited by the Herald. “I ask anybody out there, if you can help with search-and-rescue efforts, we would greatly appreciate it. We need to bring them home.”

The family of those on board asked for fishermen, boaters, pilots or residents of Andros Island to contact authorities with any information. “Every piece of information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, could be important,” they said.

“The Lamar and Sosa families are deeply grateful to everyone participating in the search and to those who have reached out with support,” the families said in a statement. “They ask the community to keep Mario, Lili, Christian and Sofi in their thoughts and prayers and respectfully request privacy as they await further information.”

Bahamas police identified the plane as a PA-34 Piper five-seater aircraft, with tail number N212ML. It said it departed Great Harbour Cay, a city in the Berry Islands of the Bahamas.

plane.jpg

READ MORE: London’s Burning star John Alford died penniless in prison after paedophile conviction

Members of a Miami family were reported missing after a small plane crash near the Bahamas.

Photo courtesy of Silvi Larrieu

Air traffic control lost contact with the aircraft when it was about 13 miles west of Andros Island, Bahamas police said.

Bahamian officials contacted the U.S. Coast Guard at about 2 p.m. and requested assistance finding a downed plane, a spokesperson said.

“Southeast District command center watchstanders coordinated the launch of an HC-144 Ocean Sentry to assist Bahamian authorities with the search,” the spokesperson said.

The search had to be suspended due to bad weather, Bahamas police said. It wasn’t clear when it would resume.

Turning Point: Generation 9/11 Tells 8 Heartbreaking Stories

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Turning Point: Generation 9/11 Tells 8 Heartbreaking Stories

Brian Knappenberger’s latest documentary, Turning Point: Generation 9/11, is difficult to sit through — as any honest film about Sept. 11 and its aftermath would be. But its emotional weight is matched by its purpose. The documentary offers a sobering, deeply human look at how a defining national tragedy shaped a generation that was too young to fully grasp it as it happened.

The film, part of Knappenberger’s Turning Point series and a continuation of the themes explored in 2021’s five-part Turning Point: 9/11 and the War on Terror, turns its attention to those who were children on Sept. 11, 2001 — old enough in some cases to retain only fragmentary memories, and in others too young to remember the terrorist attacks at all. Through devastating footage from the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon, and the Pennsylvania crash site of United Flight 93, Knappenberger reconstructs the terror and confusion of that morning with painful clarity. He then follows the long shadow cast by the attacks, tracing consequences that stretch from the 20-year war in Afghanistan to the fractures of modern American politics, while never losing sight of the individual trauma left behind.

Much of the documentary’s power comes from its interviews. Knappenberger sits with people whose lives were altered by 9/11 in different ways, allowing their memories and grief to unfold without easy answers. Their stories are often devastating. Among the most affecting are these:

  1. Michael Smoak

    Michael Smoak from 'Turning Point: Generation 9/11'

    Smoak was just five years old on 9/11. Home sick from school that day, he remembers watching his grandparents respond in shock to the news unfolding on television. As he grew older and came to understand what had happened and why, he felt compelled to serve, eventually joining the Marines. In 2021, his squadron was deployed to Kabul during the United States’ full military withdrawal from Afghanistan, a chaotic moment that coincided with the Taliban’s return to power. At the Kabul airport, desperate Afghan civilians crowded in hopes of fleeing the country. Smoak was there when an ISIS suicide bomber set off an explosion that killed 169 Afghan civilians and 13 American service members, including several of his closest friends.

  2. Jenny Pachucki

    A woman with dark hair and bangs smiles slightly as she looks off-camera to the right.

    COURTESY OF NETFLIX

    Pachucki was 21 on Sept. 11, 2001. An oral historian, she later curated audio recordings for New York City’s 9/11 Memorial and Museum. In one especially wrenching scene, she struggles to hold back tears while describing firefighters shaking one another’s hands before entering the World Trade Center, aware they might not come out alive. The documentary includes portions of the recordings she helped gather: eyewitness accounts from people who saw the planes strike the towers, calls from those trapped inside the buildings, and final messages from passengers aboard United Flight 93. One call ends with the sickening sound of a tower beginning to collapse. For viewers too young to remember 9/11, these moments cut through history’s distance and bring the personal devastation into sharp, unforgettable focus.

  4. An Nguyen

    A young man in glasses and a suit jacket with a Pentagon pin on the lapel stands in front of the US Capitol building, looking upward.

    COURTESY OF NETFLIX

    Nguyen was four when he was boarding the bus for preschool and his father, Khang Ngoc Nguyen, rushed out the door for a last-second kiss goodbye. It was the last time An saw his dad. Khang was a Vietnamese citizen who escaped Saigon after it fell to American forces in the Vietnam War. An says his father was a poster child for the American dream: An immigrant who worked hard after arriving in the U.S., studying engineering and eventually landing a job as an electrical engineer for the government. Khang was at the Pentagon on 9/11 when terrorists crashed a plane into the building, killing him and 124 others.

  5. Laurel Homer

    Leroy and Laurel Homer photo from 'Turning Point: Generation 9/11'

    Homer was still in diapers on 9/11 – 10 months old. She only remembers her father from photographs and stories. LeRoy W. Homer, Jr. was the co-pilot of Flight 93, which was hijacked by terrorists who intended to crash into the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C.; flight personnel and civilians rushed the cockpit and diverted the plane, which went down in Pennsylvania, killing 44, including four hijackers. Laurel shares how she has always felt an empty space where her father should be, and how she’s been cruelly harassed by internet trolls who believe the events of 9/11 were faked. She wrestles with the conflicting emotions of losing her father despite the fact that it was for the greater good, the turn of events on the plane preventing further death and destruction. Her voice cracks as she says she feels shocked that she “made it out” of the aftermath, having been through such a harrowing ordeal at such a young age.

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  6. Obaidullah Durani

    A man taking a selfie with two young children and two laptops on a glass table in the foreground.

    COURTESY OF NETFLIX

    Durani was 11 years old and living in his home country of Afghanistan on 9/11. He speaks about living in the closed-off society enforced by the Taliban. Citizens didn’t realize the attacks occurred until the U.S. military arrived in the country, initiating a war and searching for 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. The U.S. soldiers were greeted as heroes, further fueling Durani’s dream to become a fighter pilot, fulfilled after he moved to America, got his training, and returned to Afghanistan to fight against Taliban forces. As the American occupation dragged on, Durani got married and started a family – a family that was torn apart at the Kabul airport in 2021. He and his children escaped to America. His wife is still in Afghanistan, suffering under the oppressive Taliban regime.

  7. Wyatt Wilson

    A man with a mustache and closed eyes holds a child with curly hair.

    COURTESY OF NETFLIX

    Wilson was three years old on 9/11. He joined the Marines not because of 9/11, but to fight ISIS, which he cites as the difference between his generation and those who fought in the 2000s, the early days of the “global war on terror.” The first shot of Wilson makes you wonder: What is that big scar on his neck? He, Smoak, and Christian Sanchez, another participant in this doc, were among the Marines sent to Kabul in 2021 to facilitate order at the airport. They were not only undertrained for the situation, but were ordered to work with Taliban forces, the same people they used to shoot at. The scene was chaotic even before the suicide bomber arrived.

    When the explosive went off, Smoak describes seeing a severed arm flying through the air, and finding the body of his best friend, Cpl. Daegan Page. Sanchez was shot in the shoulder amidst the turmoil. Wilson was 10 yards from the blast – with a collapsed lung and a variety of other debilitating injuries, he crawled over the corpses of friends and colleagues and laid down on the ground, convinced he was a goner. Sanchez saw medics wheel Wilson out. Wilson wasn’t breathing, but was saved by doctors, hospitalized and intubated. That’s where the scar came from. We see Wilson today, playing with his children, his pregnant wife nearby.

  8. Mohammed Razvi

    A man with a white shirt, a patterned tie, and a maroon vest looks up and to his left.

    COURTESY OF NETFLIX

    Razvi owned two small businesses in New York City on 9/11. His Pakistani family immigrated to the U.S. when he was seven – “The first thing I did was eat pizza,” he said. He describes the devastation he felt when ash blackened the sky and covered people, the buildings, and streets. Not long after, he had to reiterate the fact that he was an American when others in his neighborhood began to ask, “Why did your people do this?” He shares how his daughter was harassed and assaulted at school because she’s Muslim.

  9. Azmat Khan

    A close-up of a woman looking left, with her dark hair falling around her face.

    COURTESY OF NETFLIX

    Khan experienced similar antagonization as Razvi – she was 16 on 9/11, and recalls how she and her sister, the only Muslims in school, were sent home early that day as school officials feared for their safety. She talks about “the real spread of the cycle of violence” as America started wars in the Middle East. Now she’s an investigative journalist for The New York Times Magazine, and has traveled to Afghanistan to report on the citizens’ experiences of the war and Taliban rule. She hopes her work cuts through the melee of modern journalism, so much of which has become untrustworthy, and the propaganda put forth by the U.S. government.

    John Serba is a freelance film critic from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Werner Herzog hugged him once.

    10. Larry Birkhead Shares Rare Photos of Daughter Dannielynn on Her 20th Birthday

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    Larry Birkhead Shares Rare Photos of Daughter Dannielynn on Her 20th Birthday

    Larry Birkhead Celebrates Daughter Dannielynn’s 20th Birthday With Rare Photos and a Heartfelt Tribute

    Dannielynn Birkhead is stepping into a milestone year.

    Her father, Larry Birkhead, marked the occasion with a touching birthday message, honoring his daughter as she begins a new decade of life.

    “Happy 20th Birthday Dannielynn!” Larry—who shares Dannielynn with the late Anna Nicole Smith—wrote on social media Sept. 7, adding, “Love, Dad,” along with red heart emojis. The post also included a short reel of photos celebrating the birthday milestone.

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    In one image, Dannielynn is seen posing on a city stoop in a black velvet dress, fishnet tights, lacy black socks, black sunglasses and layered necklaces. Another photo shows the newly 20-year-old at a restaurant wearing a Ghost T-shirt and sporting red hair, followed by two throwback pictures from her younger years.

    In his caption, Larry noted that both of his daughter’s outfits were purchased at Hot Topic. 

    For fans of the late Anna and her daughter, that Danielynn is celebrating her exit from her teenage years was the subject of disbelief in Larry’s comment section. 

    London’s Burning star John Alford died penniless in prison after paedophile conviction

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    London’s Burning star John Alford died penniless in prison after paedophile conviction

    John Alford, the former London’s Burning actor who died behind bars only weeks after being sentenced for sexually abusing two girls, left an estate valued at just £200.

    The 54-year-old was best known to millions of ITV viewers as firefighter Billy Ray, a role he played from 1993 to 1998 during the drama’s peak years, when audiences reportedly reached as many as 18 million.

    Before that, Alford had appeared as Robbie Wright in the BBC school drama Grange Hill between 1985 and 1990, and in 1996 he also enjoyed chart success with three UK top 30 singles.

    His once-promising entertainment career unravelled after he was targeted in a News of the World sting by Mazher Mahmood, the tabloid reporter known as the Fake Sheikh, who persuaded him to supply cocaine.

    Alford, then among the most familiar faces on British television, was dismissed from London’s Burning and later received a nine-month prison sentence for conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis to the undercover journalist.

    He was jailed for another eight years and six months at St Albans Crown Court in Hertfordshire in January, after being convicted of sex offences against two girls.

    Alford, whose real name was John Shannon, was declared dead on March 13 after being found unresponsive on his bed at HMP Bure, a prison for sex offenders near Norwich.

    An inquest opening held in June at Norfolk Coroner’s Court heard that he died from coronary heart disease and there were no suspicious circumstances to his death.

    Probate records released today and seen by the Daily Mail confirm that Alford died intestate without leaving a will.

    John Alford outside St Albans Magistrates' Court in August 2025 during his sexual assault trial

    John Alford outside St Albans Magistrates’ Court in August 2025 during his sexual assault trial

    A grant of probate revealed that he left assets valued at just £200 which will be split between his family.

    The document gave the address of the former actor as HMP Bure. He previously lived in Holloway, north London.

    Glasgow-born Alford moved to London early in his childhood where he attended stage school.

    As a child actor, he appeared in Not the Nine O’Clock News in 1982 and had a role in 1983 in the short-lived ITV series Now and Then.

    Alford went on to join Grange Hill in the mid-1980s, playing rebellious pupil Robbie Wright.

    He was in the cast when they released Just Say No, an anti-drugs song that reached number five in the UK charts.

    Alford’s best-known role came in 1993 when he joined London’s Burning in the sixth series of the drama about members of London Fire Brigade.

    His popularity in the show raised his profile and led to a pop career with his first single Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, reaching a chart position of number 13.

    A follow-up double single release of Blue Moon and Only You cracked the top ten, landing at number nine. 

    His final release, If/Keep on Running, reached number 24. The follow-up, Let It Be Me, was withdrawn before its release in early 1997.

    John Alford played fireman Billy Ray in ITV drama London's Burning from 1993 to 1998

    John Alford played fireman Billy Ray in ITV drama London’s Burning from 1993 to 1998

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    Alford was caught out by reporter Mahmood, who dressed as Arab royalty to fool his high-profile targets in a series of tabloid stings.

    Mahmood offered him £100,000 and the chance to join a celebrity line-up at the opening of a Dubai nightclub where he would get the chance to meet Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone, and possibly work with them in future.

    The supposed Sheikh then asked the actor to supply him with drugs which resulted in him being exposed as a ‘dealer’ in the now-defunct News of the World.

    Judge Stephen Robbins told Alford that although entrapment had played a significant part in the sting, he ‘willingly went along with the idea’.

    After serving his jail sentence, Alford took on much smaller roles in shows such as Casualty, the 2017 film The Hatton Garden Job, and Sky drama Mile High, in which he played a drug-dealing flight attendant.

    Alford was banned from the roads for 16 months in January 2006 for drink-driving after a crash in Islington, north London, in April the previous year.

    He was in trouble with the law again in 2018 when he was accused of assaulting two police officers after jumping behind the wheel of a bin lorry left with a smashed windscreen in Camden.

    During his arrest, he was heard shouting that he was ‘fighting corrupt police officers’, telling officers they were ‘in cahoots with News of the World’ and ‘in cahoots with Mazher Mahmood, and asking them ‘did [former News of the World proprietor] Rupert Murdoch send you here to kill me?’

    Alford admitted two counts of resisting an officer and was given a 12-month community order with a 25-day rehabilitation activity. 

    A Hertfordshire Police mugshot of John Alford, who died in prison months after being jailed

    A Hertfordshire Police mugshot of John Alford, who died in prison months after being jailed

    He was also ordered to pay £400 compensation and serve a 14-day curfew on an electronic tag.

    The former actor was jailed in January after having sex with a drunk 14-year-old at a house party and sexually assaulting her 15-year-old friend.

    St Albans Crown Court heard how Alford had been left with his two young victims aged 14 and 15 in the early hours of the morning after others at the house in Hertfordshire went to bed on April 8, 2022.

    He had earlier spent the evening at a pub with the father of a third girl before going to the property where the offences took place.

    Alford bought a bottle of vodka at a nearby petrol station before returning and asking the 14-year-old to sit on his lap when he went to the garden for a cigarette.

    He kissed the girl before having sex with her, and had sex with the girl again in a downstairs toilet after pulling her onto him.

    Alford then sexually assaulted the older girl while sitting between the two victims.

    In a victim impact statement, the younger girl – who had turned 18 by the time of the trial in September last year – said Alford’s sexual assault had ‘affected me and my family in every way’.

    Alford had denied the offences and claimed he was the victim of a blackmail plot after someone rang him and tried to ‘extort money from me’.

    But the jury convicted him of all charges by a ten to two majority verdict after 13 hours deliberation during the week long trial. 

    Massive South Bend Apartment Fire Forces Evacuations

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    Massive South Bend Apartment Fire Forces Evacuations

    A large fire erupted early Tuesday at an apartment complex under construction in South Bend, Indiana, prompting the evacuation of people in a nearby residential building, local officials said.

    According to the South Bend Fire Department, the blaze broke out shortly after midnight at the Stadium Flats apartments near S. Lafayette & W. South Street.

    Responding crews found heavy flames and thick smoke at the site after reports indicated the fire had spread across the unfinished structure and involved a crane.

    Stadium Flats apartment complex in South Bend, Indiana

    A massive fire engulfs the Stadium Flats apartment complex in South Bend, Indiana, on Sept. 8, 2026. The building was under construction and would have added dozens of affordable housing units to the city. (South Bend Fire Department)

    Although the fire sent a “significant amount of embers and debris” into the area, firefighters prevented the flames from reaching the neighboring Diamond View Apartments.

    Residents of the Diamond View Apartments were evacuated during the fire, with officials saying the heat damaged several windows on the building’s top floor. The building has 60 units of affordable housing, according to a report last year in the South Bend Tribune.

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    Crews from the South Bend Fire Department putting out the fire

    Crews from the South Bend Fire Department arrived to the scene shortly after midnight on Sept. 8, 2026. (South Bend Fire Department)

    The Stadium Flats building was set to introduce 92 additional affordable units to downtown South Bend. Before the fire, construction was expected to be completed by spring 2027.

    Both buildings are near the training facility for the South Bend Cubs, the city’s minor league baseball team. Firefighters were able to stop the blaze from spreading to the 17,000-square-foot complex, which is right next to the baseball stadium.

    Fire crews at the fire in South Bend

    The cause of the fire remains under investigation, officials said. No injuries or fatalities were reported. (South Bend Fire Department)

    Officials said the cause of the fire remains under investigation. No injuries or deaths were reported.

    The fire occurred a little over two miles from the University of Notre Dame’s campus.
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