Ex-Red Arrows pilot with stash of child abuse images avoids jail

A former Red Arrows pilot who admitted possession of nearly 100 indecent images of children has avoided jail after telling police he was searching for images of his 14-year-old daughter, who died in his arms in 2016.

Andrew Lloyd MBE, 59, formerly known as Andrew Cubin, was sacked as a British Airways pilot after he previously admitted three counts of possessing nearly 100 indecent images of children. This included 48 in the most serious category.

Lloyd, who flew fighter jets on 88 combat missions and formed part of the Red Arrows display team, was described as having an “exceptional military record”. During his sentencing hearing at Swindon Crown Court on Tuesday, May 30, the judge imposed a 36-month community order on Lloyd.

Police attended his previous address, in Crudwell, Wiltshire, in February last year following a tip-off about two indecent images being uploaded to the internet.

Officers seized a laptop and hard drive at his home and a forensic analysis revealed 48 Category A still and moving child sexual abuse images were found.

A total of 39 Category B still and moving images were also discovered while ten Category C images were also found.

Lloyd told police officers during a custody interview that he was searching for images of his 14-year-old daughter, who died in his arms in 2016, according to The Independent.

He claimed that she had uploaded photographs of herself in her underwear at the request of a male on social media before her death.

Prosecutor Robert Welling said the claims do not account for why he also collected indecent images of underage boys and why the images had been kept in separate labelled folders on a hard drive.

Defending, Nicholas Wragg said his client’s 14-year-old daughter, Hannah, died despite his frantic attempts to save her life following an unexpected cardiac arrest in 2016. He said Wiltshire Air Ambulance had been called to the incident, but their medics were unable to save her.

Following Hannah’s death, Lloyd and his wife – who supported him in court from the public gallery – discovered a number of photographs depicting their daughter in her underwear on her mobile phone.

Mr Wragg said a male on Instagram had requested the images.

The police were handed the phone and no investigation took place. Mr Wragg said the defendant took it upon himself to go onto the internet to find the person who requested the images – but now accepts it was a ‘hopeless prospect’.

As part of his own search for the male on the internet, he had entertained trading images of other children in order to locate the person who received images of his daughter.

In a report, counsellor Amanda Burbage said he suffers from complex PTSD as a result of his military service and the death of his daughter.

Lloyd, of Windsor, Berkshire, has undertaken work with StopSo, which provides specialist therapy to sex offenders.

Judge Cutler CBE imposed a 36-month community order in which Lloyd must complete a sexual offending programme and 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

He said he accepted what the defence claims as an explanation of how a man with an ‘impeccable’ military background found himself in court. He also accepted the defendant’s ‘true remorse’ and accepted his likelihood of further offending is very low.

The judge also imposed a five-year sexual harm prevention order. The prohibitions will be set at a later date, but will definitely include the requirement that Lloyd does not delete his internet search history.