Philip Allen, Baron Allen of Abbeydale

He was the son of Arthur Allen and Louie Tipper[2] and educated at King Edward VII School in Sheffield and Queens' College, Cambridge, where he read law.

[3] Allen joined the Home Office in 1934 and served in the War Cabinet (1943–44), then as Deputy Secretary to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (1955–60).

As deputy chairman of the Prison Commission for England and Wales from 1950 to 1952, he advised against a reprieve for Timothy Evans, hanged in 1950 for the murder of his baby daughter at 10 Rillington Place, London.

[2] Together with Permanent Under-Secretary Sir Frank Newsam, Allen unsuccessfully urged a reprieve for Derek Bentley, who was hanged aged 19 in 1953 for the murder of a policeman.

Bentley, who was already under arrest at the time, had allegedly called to an armed accomplice, Christopher Craig, "Let him have it, Chris!