Rachel Allen Rollingnews.ie Rollingnews.ie

TV CHEF RACHEL Allen has expressed her devastation after the arrest of her son for the possession of drugs with intent to supply.

18-year-old Joshua Allen was arrested following a Garda raid on a house at Shanagarry, Co Cork, last Thursday afternoon.

€30,000 of herbal cannabis, weighing 1.5 kilograms, was seized as part of the joint operation with Revenue customs officers.

Allen has since been released without charge, with a file being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

His mother and her family have since released a statement to “alleviate the frenzy of enquiry and speculation on going in relation to our son Joshua”.

“He has been arrested on suspicion of possession of drugs with intent to supply them to others,” the statement reads.

He has admitted his guilt immediately and cooperated fully with the gardaí. A file has been sent to the DPP and when formally charged Joshua will be pleading guilty at the first opportunity.

“We are absolutely devastated at this turn of events,” the statement said.

Our son is eighteen years old, has never been in trouble with the gardaí, and has made a huge mistake, which will have profound consequences for him. We do not in any way condone his actions, in fact, we utterly condemn them, but it is not for us to condemn him.

“We must now try to look after our son and our family, the best way we can. We would ask that the legal process would be allowed to proceed to deal with this matter, without interference, and that we would be allowed to deal with this, like any other parents, in a similar position,” it concluded.