John Alford became one of the most famous faces on British TV as the happy go lucky star of Grange Hill and London's Burning.
The actor and singer also had three top 20 singles including a cover of show tune Smoke Gets in Your Eyes at the height of his fame in the mid-1990s.
His biggest hit was anti-narcotics hit Just Say No, performed with members of the Grange Hill cast that landed at number five in the charts.
And somewhat ironically it was a drugs sting by the News Of The World's now-disgraced Fake Sheikh that turned his world on its head, shattered his career and left him relying on benefits.
Alford served six weeks of a nine-month sentence for supplying cocaine and cannabis to undercover reporter Mazher Mahmood, who had promised him a role in a Robert De Niro movie.
