Pervert jailed for having ‘paedophile manuals’ back in court

Nicky Lloyd was jailed back in March 2017 for owning the documents which provided graphic guidance on how to sexually abuse children without getting caught.

The 37-year-old, now living in Warrington, was also given a court order with a list of conditions aimed to prevent future sex offending.

But the defendant was in breach of that for having a large collection of images featuring animated female characters from video games without clothing.

Lloyd appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday via videolink from HM Prison Altcourse to be sentenced for breaching his sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) and possessing prohibited images of children (PIOC).

Christopher Hopkins, prosecuting, explained how this was an ‘unusual case’ due to the nature of the vast majority of the images found on his laptop.

The defendant’s SHPO was imposed following his conviction for being in possession of two ‘paedophile manuals’, for which he was jailed for 26 months in March 2017.

The manuals ‘provided graphic guidance and instruction on how to select, groom, gain the trust of and then sexually abuse children without getting caught’.

He was arrested in his then-home on Straker Avenue in Ellesmere Port in June 2016 following a police raid, which also uncovered more than 24,000 indecent images of children, extreme pornographic images of animals and a further instructional chat log on how to sexually abuse children.

Lloyd was back in court this week for breaching three prohibitions of his SHPO, particularly one which banned him from keeping any images of women, or animated characters that appear to be human, unless they are an adult ‘whose breasts, bottom and genital areas are entirely covered by clothing’.

The court heard that under normal circumstances, it would not be illegal to possess this particular material, but it was for Lloyd due to his history which led to the court order being imposed.

He was arrested by police on November 26 last year, with officers finding between 1,800 and 2,000 images, believed to be animated characters from video games.

Police also discovered 12 computer-generated PIOC, including a girl aged between nine and 13 engaging in sexual activity and a naked child with an estimated age of four to seven.

In addition, analysis of his laptop found search terms of concern in his browsing history such as ‘girls six years old’.

Lloyd made admissions in his police interview regarding the images being in his possession and pleaded guilty to the charges at his first court appearance.

Nicky Lloyd was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court

Mr Hopkins revealed to the court that the defendant has a previous breach of his SHPO, for which he received a community order in February last year.

Defending his client, Jim Smith said that Lloyd is a ‘lonesome individual’ who rarely leaves his home address.

“I accept that the custodial threshold has been passed, but your honour could consider suspending the sentence,” he commented.

“He is remorseful and wants to be able to control his urges.”

Before sentencing, judge Robert Trevor-Jones said: “You are now before the courts for the third time relating to sexual offences or breaching your SHPO.

“It is a somewhat unusual case, because although there were a massive amount of images, they were effectively not realistic images but animated images, not of children, but of adults, not in sexual poses per se, but in situations where they were not fully and properly clothed.

“Although it is a clear, serious and persistent breach, it is still not to be viewed in the same light as images of children. But alongside that are those 12 prohibited images of children.

“While the imposition of a necessary custodial sentence must follow, the somewhat unusual circumstances in this case do allow me to suspend that sentence.

"I hope this will provide a salutary lesson and an indication of what is to happen if you reoffend again in this context.”

Lloyd, of Gerrard Avenue in Bewsey, was sentenced to 14 months in prison suspended for 18 months.

He must also complete further sessions of the Horizon programme, 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and 40 hours of unpaid work, while his SHPO will continue.

An order was approved to deprive the defendant of his laptop, hard drive and USB memory stick.

Following his conviction in 2017, police said: “Lloyd is an individual who had a clear and dangerous interest in children.

“Paedophiles cannot hide online. The internet leaves a digital footprint, and rest assured we will find it, and we will take action.

“We take offences of this nature extremely seriously, and I hope that Lloyd’s time behind bars will allow him to reflect upon his actions.”