Pubdate: Fri, 14 May 1999
Source: Herald Sun (Australia)
Copyright: News Limited 1999
Contact:  http://www.heraldsun.com.au/
Author: Paul Anderson

DRUG LORD TO GO FREE

ONE of Victoria's most notorious drug lords has been granted parole and is
set to walk free from jail in July after serving the past 13 years behind
bars.

Peter John Allen the second eldest remaining son of crime matriarch Kath
Pettingill has spent almost half his life in jail after leaving school at
the age of 14.

The grandfather, now 46, will be released from Loddon prison, central
Victoria, within 10 weeks and will more than likely live with a former
female prison guard he fell in love with about five years ago at Barwon
Prison.

The Herald Sun understands the female guard was sacked over the affair.

"His parole has been granted and, barring any unforseen circumstances, he
will be released in July," a prison source confirmed.

Allen's daughter, who does not want to be identified, exclusively told the
Herald Sun she believed her father would move in with the former guard and
"live and let live and keep his nose clean".

"He's been in jail all of my life," his daughter said.

"He went in as a teenager and now his grandchildren are becoming teenagers.

"He was a Jimmy Barnes look-alike back then. I wouldn't have a clue what he
looks like now."

The daughter, who has three children and only recently began speaking to
her father again over the phone, said she hoped he would settle into a
peaceful life upon his release.

"I think it's going to be a big culture shock for him. It's a different
world now to when he went inside and he's not Mr Invincible any more."

Allen a career criminal with a love of gambling and a fascination with guns
has done time for crimes ranging from rape, assault and blackmail to
running major drug syndicates in and outside prison.

His pedigree is of the underworld. His late brother, Dennis Allen, was a
murderous drug baron and other brothers Victor Pierce and Trevor Pettingill
were acquitted of the 1988 Walsh St police murders.

After serving an 11-year sentence for rape and attempted murder that ended
in 1985, Allen's flourishing drug empire bought him lavish homes, fast cars
and high-powered weapons.

On the outside as a heroin supplier, he was earning up to $30,000 a week
before detectives raided his Templestowe home and arrested him in 1986.

Allen was a high-flying criminal most recently brought to justice thanks to
the use of police listening devices.

The devices and Allen's inability to control his boasting over the
telephone led to an original prison term after appeal of 13 years with a
minimum of 11 in 1988, later reduced to eight years by the full Supreme Court.

While serving he faced two other trials for blackmail and trafficking drugs
in Pentridge, Bendigo and Geelong prisons and had another eight years added
to his original sentence.

Allen's mother, Kath, who has criminal convictions for drug trafficking and
firearm matters, this week implied her son had been living comfortably in
jail.

When the Herald Sun presumed Allen would be happy to be walking free, she
joked: "I don't know about that."

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