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Cork CIrcuit Criminal Cork GoogleMaps

Joshua Allen, 19-year-old son of TV chef Rachel Allen, jailed for 15 months

The eldest son of Rachel and Isaac Allen has pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis for sale or supply.

THE ELDEST SON of celebrity chef Rachel Allen has been jailed for fifteen months after he was found to be in possession of over €22,000 worth of cannabis for sale and supply at the internationally renowned Ballymaloe Cookery School in Co Cork.

Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard that Joshua Allen (19) would have faced a far more “grim” sentence if he had not become a “changed man” since his entry to rehabilitation for drug addiction last November.

Allen, who was without previous convictions, had pleaded guilty to possessing over €22,000 worth of cannabis for sale and supply. He also admitted possessing a small quantity of cocaine and cannabis for his own personal use. 

Mr Allen of Ballinmona, Shanagarry, Co Cork spent three weeks in custody last year after Judge Sean O’Donnabhain said that his response to facing serious drug charges was
 ”unimpressive.”

Last November, he was given the opportunity to become an inpatient at Cuain Mhuire rehab centre where he was successfully treated for his addiction issues.

‘Naive young man’

Cork Circuit Criminal Court today heard from defence barrister Siobhan Lankford who said that her client had done well in rehab having seriously addressed his addiction issues for the first time.

She said that his drugs operation was “amateurish” and that he was a “naive” young man who had left school prior to the completion of his Junior Certificate. She said that such was his addiction that he had tested positive for cannabis during the courts process.

Lankford requested that her client be treated like any “other young man in the court before you.” She added that he deserved a chance. Judge O’Donnabhain described as “offensive” the idea that he would treat the accused differently from anyone else. He said there was a significant level of culpability.

He set a headline sentence of five years for the charge but taking his guilty plea and age in to account he jailed Allen for two and a half years with the final fifteen months suspended.

He backdated the sentence to November 8th last when Allen spent three months in remand.

Judge O’Donnabhain said that Allen had a “sad background” having left school without any qualifications before his Junior Cert and having not received any qualifications since. He noted that the defendant had matured since his time in Cuain Mhuire.

“He has done his bit. He has come up to the mark. He has convinced his probation officer that he is a changed man.”

Arrest

Last year, Allen pleaded guilty to two drugs charges at Ballymaloe Cookery School in Shanagarry, Co Cork on 30 August 2018.

He pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis for sale or supply when the market value exceeded €13,000 or more. The drugs were subsequently found to be worth over €22,000.

This charge was brought contrary to Section 15 (A) of the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Allen pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine on the same occasion. This is a Section 3 Offence of the Misuse of Drugs Act.

He also pleaded guilty to one other Section 3 charge at his home. The charge involves possession of cannabis on the 5 September 2018 at Ballinamona, Shanagarry, Co Cork.

Allen was arrested in September of 2018  after the controlled delivery of a parcel containing the cannabis to an address in East Cork.

Customs in Portlaoise Mail Centre had become suspicious of the parcel which had a US postmark.

Det Garda Michael O’Halloran told the court that the package was intercepted by customs in Portlaoise. It was found to contain cannabis with a street value of €22,694. A controlled delivery was arranged addressed to Joshua Allen at Ballymaloe Cookery School.

The package was signed for and received by Allen. Gardai observed him opening the package and intercepted same. A small quantity of cocaine worth €66 was found to be in the wallet of the defendant.

Allen was arrested and detained at Cobh Garda Station. He admitted that it was his third or fourth time engaging in such a delivery.

He co operated fully with gardai and told investigating officers that he secured the drugs from a female resident in California whom he met in East Cork.

He had travelled to London and paid her €2000 in cash for the drugs.

On 5 September, a further small quantity of cannabis was found at Ballinamona, Shanagarry, Co Cork. The cannabis, which was found at his home, had a street value of €203.

In a statement last year Rachel Allen and her husband Isaac said they were “devastated” by the arrest of their son Joshua in relation to drugs charges.

The couple issued a statement in a bid to  “alleviate the frenzy of enquiry and speculation on going in relation to our son Joshua”. Isaac and Rachel Allen said that Joshua had admitted  his guilt and was co-operating with gardaí.The couple said their son had made a “huge mistake” which would lead to “profound consequences” for him.

Rachel Allen was brought up in Dublin and left home at eighteen to study at the internationally renowned Ballymaloe Cookery School. Ms Allen is a TV chef and author and teaches in Ballymaloe.

She is the author of four best selling cookery books and has appeared in television series for RTE and the BBC. Rachel Allen was not present in court. 

Allen, who was wearing a grey suit and white shirt, was accompanied by his father Isaac.

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    Mute Barry Eoin O'Neill
    Favourite Barry Eoin O'Neill
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    Feb 28th 2020, 2:11 PM

    A month or two in jail with community service afterwards and a probation period with drug testing would have been a reasonable punishment. 13 months is OTT

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    Mute Kenneth O Brien
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    Feb 28th 2020, 2:01 PM

    15 months for a bag of weed come on that’s ridiculous

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    Mute Kevin Lonergan
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    Feb 28th 2020, 2:04 PM

    @Kenneth O Brien: One hell of a bag of weed if it was worth 22K

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    Mute Gareth Miskelly
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    Feb 28th 2020, 2:14 PM

    @Kevin Lonergan: it was probably one of the blue Ikea ones…

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    Mute Derek
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    Feb 28th 2020, 3:08 PM

    @Kevin Lonergan: it was worth €2,000 at the time when he purchased it, it looks great for the gardai to say they caught over €20,000 worth but that based on selling it by the gram for I think their value of€25/g.
    Which is a hyper inflated figure as no one with any large quantity will sell in such small unit sizes. My rough maths show for usual gardai valuation of €25/g he bought 31.5 ounces based on their €22,000 value. Therefore the €2,000 he paid, works out at €63.50/ounce and the gardai claim an ounce to be €700 based on their false valuation. Bit of difference there. I’ve no idea what a ounce costs to buy nowadays but I’d stagger a guess that’s its likely half what the gardai claim it to be. No way is there a 1000%ROI, honest valuations should be enforced and expected by the state.

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    Mute Eugene Comaskey
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    Feb 28th 2020, 4:30 PM

    @Kenneth O Brien: Not long enough don’t you think??.

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    Mute Gordon Comstock
    Favourite Gordon Comstock
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    Feb 28th 2020, 2:40 PM

    Young lad’s life destroyed over a bit of plant matter that has never killed a single person in human history. Seems fair. Can’t wait for pints after work, and great to know the publican that serves me won’t have his life destroyed because the drugs he peddles are of course taxable.

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    Mute Gary Sheahan
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    Feb 28th 2020, 2:49 PM

    @Gordon Comstock: excellent point well made. Legalise it, tax it and get it out of the ganglands. Never saw a weed head starting fights or doing harm.

    145
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    Mute Anna Poly Anna
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    Feb 28th 2020, 3:54 PM

    I feel very sad for this young man. Labelled a drug addict, sent to inadequate addiction services, described as naive..given he was 16/17. Did his Grandads case affect his schooling, was he bullied,probably. This sentence is all we have then for boys who are not yet men. House arrest, curfews, video link sign ins with nominated other would be better than hardening him to a prison life. Smoking cannabis is on the verge of decriminalisation – our Gov is developing products legally, so why is he labelled an addict? It is wrong.It might make him one. He clearly had unique circumstances in family life, well off or not and they have affected him , hurt him and distracted him . Maybe he is dyslexic, or mild autism, stifled by the circumstances with scrutiny of his family, cruel comments etc. No he should not be sent to prison two years after he was caught and it should not be influenced by whether he continued to smoke cannabis for his own personal use. He very clearly has anxiety. Sending a generation of teenagers to jail for these issues just creates tighter networks of drug dealing . Very often they are pushed lured in and set up by older experienced fixtures who never seem to spend much time in a cell.

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    Mute Aaron Jones
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    Feb 28th 2020, 4:20 PM

    @Anna Poly Anna: tell the judge

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    Mute David Glynn
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    Feb 28th 2020, 2:01 PM

    Should be legal. In Portugal he could sell it in main street.

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    Mute Luke Campbell
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    Feb 28th 2020, 2:10 PM

    @David Glynn: The stuff the street dealers in Portugal are selling is not real weed. It’s fake, it’s a trap to catch tourists.

    69
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    Mute David Glynn
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    Feb 28th 2020, 2:16 PM

    @Luke Campbell: Point is that, as with other drugs its decriminalised if its for personal use with quantity specified.
    As for fake fealers, don’t care as I don’t use it.

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    Mute Ferdia McManamon
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    Feb 28th 2020, 2:47 PM

    @David Glynn: he could sell it on the street? You forgot to mention it would still be illegal, but going by your comment you probably heard it in the pub

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    Mute Shimmy Shammy
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    Feb 28th 2020, 2:53 PM

    @David Glynn: I’ve been to Lisbon and couldn’t walk 10 yards without being offered cannabis/cocaine openly. Would turn me off going back there. Would hate to see that in Ireland.

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    Mute Kieran James Hamilton
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    Feb 28th 2020, 3:42 PM

    A good example to others that privileged people are not above the law.

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    Mute Record Sunshine
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    Feb 28th 2020, 2:17 PM

    Charged with possession of “drugs” valued at nearly 23k which cost him 2k. Ridiculous sentence.

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    Mute Aaron Jones
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    Feb 28th 2020, 2:25 PM

    @Record Sunshine: 2k for a key sounds daft he’s telling porkies there,sure it’s something like 10k for a KG?

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    Mute Mr Jerry Curtin (gurrier)
    Favourite Mr Jerry Curtin (gurrier)
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    Feb 28th 2020, 3:05 PM

    Best of luck Joshua. Don’t use no matter what

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    Mute Ferdia McManamon
    Favourite Ferdia McManamon
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    Feb 28th 2020, 2:44 PM

    If he still had addiction problems he would have served a “more grim sentence” . Absolute joke , people with addictions shouldn’t be treated like criminals. Luckily in this case he sorted out his addiction issues and payed the price for his crime

    51
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