Son of celebrity chef Rachel Allen freed from prison on temporary release

The eldest son of celebrity chef of Rachel Allen has been granted temporarily release from prison where he was serving time for drugs offences.

Joshua Allen has been given re viewable temporary release from Cork Prison that comes with a number of conditions including a curfew.

Mr Allen was given a two and a half year sentence in February with the second half suspended and backdated to November 8th 2019.

Mr Allen was jailed 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 at the time 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.

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.

Cork Circuit Criminal Court today heard from defence barrister Siobhan Lankford, SC, 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.

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."