Claim: A man named Joshua Max Gallagher severely beat a 17-month-old girl.
Examples: [Collected via Facebook, April 2013]
BABY BEATER!! THIS IS 24 YR OLD JOSHUA MAX GALLAGHER, a baby beater who attacked a
Origins: This message purportedly identifying and picturing
a 24-year-old man named Joshua Max Gallagher of Bude (a small seaside resort town in north Cornwall, England) began circulating via social media in April 2013, accusing him of having beaten a 17-month-old girl so badly that he fractured her skull and imploring viewers to "name and shame" him.
We don't know how accurate this Internet-circulated account might be, other than to note that someone of the same name and age has had several
Joshua Gallagher, aged 23, of Valley View, Bude, charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent on
A few months later, that same publication reported the same man had been arrested (while out on bail for the GBH charge) for smashing a window at his girlfriend's home and then threatening police:
Police were subjected to violent threats by a man they had arrested in Bude for breaking a window, a court was told.
Joshua Gallagher, 23, who gave an address at Valley Road, Bude, appeared before Bodmin magistrates in custody on
He pleaded guilty to causing damage valued at £200 to the window and disorderly behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to two officers.
Jill Wilson, for the prosecution, said that police were called to a property in Bude in the early hours of
He agreed to go and stay elsewhere and the police left.
However, at about 1am they were called back and arrived to find a double-glazed window had been smashed at the woman's flat and Gallagher was now inside with blood on his hand and a cut to his arm.
Arrested for causing criminal damage, he became verbally aggressive to PCs Flynn and Theobald, shouting, swearing and making threats to kill them. He had to be restrained.
Mrs Wilson said that Gallagher had previous convictions for violent behaviour in a police station and had been jailed in 2009 for assaulting an officer.
A court listing for Truro (an administrative center in Cornwall) indicates that a named Joshua Max Gallagher appeared in court there for sentencing on
Still, we don't know if the person pictured above is the Joshua Gallagher referenced here, or whether the account of his severely beating a baby girl is accurate.
Last updated: 1 April 2013
 | Sources: |
Cornish Guardian. "Officers Faced Threats of Violence." 23 May 2012.
