{"id":529750,"date":"2026-07-02T17:32:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T17:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/529750\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T17:32:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T17:32:08","slug":"mma-fighter-joshua-allen-charged-with-assaulting-gardai-and-drug-driving-offences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/529750\/","title":{"rendered":"MMA fighter Joshua Allen charged with assaulting garda\u00ed and drug-driving offences"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>MMA fighter Joshua Allen has been charged with allegedly driving a van at a garda, assaulting two garda\u00ed, driving under the influence of cocaine and cannabis, and possessing ketamine and a knife.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Allen, 26, appeared before Midleton District Court on Thursday facing nine charges, all dating from October 27, 2025, and allegedly committed in the Shanagarry area of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishexaminer.com\/news\/cork-news\/\">east Cork<\/a>, near Ballymaloe House and Cookery School, founded by members of the Allen family.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Although Mr Allen, the eldest son of TV chef and author Rachel Allen, was due to either enter a guilty plea or request a book of evidence to contest the charges, the case was adjourned because of the solicitors&#8217; industrial action.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu caption\">Charges before the court<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Allen is charged with failing to stop a red Ford Transit van at a garda checkpoint and driving it &#8220;at speed&#8221; at Garda Ciaran Cummins McCarthy, &#8220;forcing him to take evasive action to avoid being struck, which created a substantial risk of death or serious harm to another&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The alleged offence is said to have occurred on the R629 at Monagurra, Shanagarry, Co Cork, and is contrary to Section 13 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">He is also charged with dangerous driving on the R629 at Monagurra, Shanagarry, Co Cork, on October 27, 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">A further charge alleges he drove while intoxicated on the R632 on the same date, having tested positive for cocaine and cannabis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Five other charges relate to an address at Shanagarry South, Ballycotton.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Allen, of Ballinamona, Shanagarry, Co Cork, is charged with assault causing harm to Garda Patrick Costello at Shanagarry South on October 27, 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The alleged offence is contrary to Sections 3(1) and 3(2) of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, as amended.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">At the same location, he is also charged with assaulting Garda Ciaran Cummins McCarthy, contrary to Section 2 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">He is further charged with resisting Garda Ciaran Cummins McCarthy while the officer was executing his duty, contrary to Section 19 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994, as amended.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Allen is also charged with unlawful possession of ketamine, contrary to Section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">He also allegedly possessed a sharply pointed knife, contrary to Section 9(1) and (7) of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act 1990.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">His final charge relates to dangerous driving at Shanagarry North, Co Cork.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu caption\">Case adjourned amid solicitors&#8217; action<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Court presenter Sergeant Linda O\u2019Leary said a decision had been expected on whether Mr Allen would enter a signed guilty plea or request a book of evidence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Sgt O\u2019Leary said she assumed the case would be adjourned and suggested September as the next available date.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Judge Colm Roberts addressed Mr Allen directly in Midleton District Court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Allen, who appeared in court without legal representation, stood to address the judge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Judge Roberts said he had to speak directly to Mr Allen because, due to the solicitors&#8217; industrial action, he could not communicate through his solicitor, Don Ryan, who was also present in court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The judge asked Mr Allen whether he had decided to enter a signed plea or request a book of evidence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cI\u2019m unclear if you have made a decision or if you need legal advice,\u201d Judge Roberts said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cAs much as I understand the difficulties of solicitors, they are not my number one concern.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cPeople being charged criminally are my concern so I have to speak to each person individually if they have no solicitor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cHave you made a decision on a signed plea or a book of evidence?\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Allen replied: \u201cI was going to ask for an adjournment please.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Judge Roberts replied: \u201cI understand Mr Allen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">However, he warned that the situation &#8220;can only go so far&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"> \u201cAs much as I have concern regarding your rights, I also have concern for the courts\u2019 rights, for the community\u2019s rights.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Judge Roberts granted the application for an adjournment but warned Mr Allen that, even if the solicitors&#8217; industrial action continued, he would eventually have to indicate how he intended to plead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cThis can only go so far,\u201d Judge Roberts said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Allen said: \u201cI understand, thank you very much.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The case was adjourned until September 17.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Wearing a navy shirt and dark jacket, Mr Allen nodded to his solicitor, Don Ryan, before leaving the court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu caption\">Background<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Allen has competed successfully in mixed martial arts, having won a championship in Cork. He also works as a stonemason and runs his own stonemasonry business.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">His great-grandmother, Myrtle Allen, founded the internationally renowned Ballymaloe House.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The business has since expanded under Darina Allen and Rachel Allen, who are both celebrity chefs and authors. The Ballymaloe estate also includes a cookery school, food festival and other associated businesses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MMA fighter Joshua Allen has been charged with allegedly driving a van at a garda, assaulting two garda\u00ed,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":529751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[79,54,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-529750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-cork-news","tag-courts","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=529750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/529751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}