Child porn chef Allen bows out of Ballymaloe

DISGRACED celebrity chef Tim Allen moved to protect his multi-million euro family business last night, announcing he was ceasing all connection with the Ballymaloe Cookery School and hotel.

The family, worried about the financial fall-out after Mr Allen’s conviction for possession of child pornography on Thursday, issued a joint statement stating his future involvement with Ballymaloe would “not be in the best interests of the business”.

Mr Allen, who was fined €40,000 and ordered to do 240 hours of community service after he downloaded images of children engaged in sexual acts, also apologised for what he had done. The statement followed a family meeting yesterday about the future of the business, which was hit over the weekend. A spokesman for the family said a number of gift vouchers and cookery course bookings (a 12-week course costs up to €7,650) had been cancelled and dinner bookings at Ballymaloe House Hotel had also been affected.

“There were a number of callers who said they would never again dine at Ballymaloe,” the spokesman said. However, the family said it had arrived at its decision to distance Tim from its business interests out of “a deep concern and sense of shame” at the notion that his conviction was in any way viewed by them as a trivial matter.

The statement added: “They [the family] wish to make known their absolute abhorrence of child pornography in any form and express their deepest regret at the hurt that has been caused to so many people by the perception that this might not be the case.”

The family said it was acutely conscious the values for which Ballymaloe has been seen to stand appeared to have been damaged by the scandal: “For the avoidance of doubt, the family cling to these values and will seek to continue to promote them.”

Mr Allen apologised publicly for the first time for the pain he had caused, saying: “What I did was wrong, I am deeply sorry and I will live with the shame of it for the rest of my life. I greatly appreciate the loving support of my wife and family and I apologise unreservedly for what I did.”

Mrs Allen thanked staff, customers and friends for their support over the past few days. The statement said the family recognised that Tim’s continued involvement in the family business would not serve the hundreds of jobs dependent on it. A spokesman for the Allens said last night that, contrary to some media reports, Tim Allen had not left Ballymaloe after the statement was formulated.

Meanwhile, as controversy over the leniency of Allen’s sentence continued to rage, Tánaiste Mary Harney confirmed that the Government is to change the law to allow the Director of Public Prosecutions to appeal against what it regards as lenient sentences imposed in the District Courts.

Ms Harney said the Government had promised to do this in the Programme for Government, and was not taking this action as a result of the conviction of the chef.

There is still public support for Darina Allen and family. On Saturday, large numbers visited the farmers’ market in Midleton, which Darina Allen helped to set up a few years ago. A Ballymaloe spokesperson said she was warmly received and some people had given her flowers.