Meth dad Joseph Gallacher wields iron bar in robbery of flatmate

A court has heard how a meth addicted dad launched a terrifying assault on an Ipswich woman who had offered him a place to stay.

A meth addicted Spring Hill father has been sentenced for robbing and assaulting his female flatmate while armed with an iron bar.

Steel worker Joseph Gallacher, 38, pleaded guilty in Ipswich District Court on July 22 to one charge of armed robbery with violence.

The court heard that on March 22, 2021, Gallacher robbed an Ipswich woman who had offered him a place to stay.

The court heard Gallacher had no money and nowhere else to go at the time.

He confronted the woman, armed with an iron bar, and suggested that she owed him money.

Gallacher demanded she give him her key card, but she refused.

He punched her, and she dropped her phone – which Gallacher took and left.

He made early admissions to police the next day, and has since admitted he was under the influence of methamphetamine at the time.

The court heard that Gallacher had experienced trauma as a child and started using cannabis at an early age – before later becoming addicted to methamphetamine.

Judge Dennis Lynch noted that the violence inflicted was limited and didn’t result in serious injury but that it was “no doubt a frightening experience for the complainant”.

Judge Lynch sentenced Gallacher to two and a half years imprisonment with immediate parole.

He declared 295 days that Gallacher spent in custody time served.

“You’re an adult, you’ll be treated like an adult, and it’s up to you to do something about your drug problem,” said Judge Lynch.