Gareth Lloyd, 59, an ex-Welsh Guard, denied being the father of a little girl after an ex-girlfriend told him she was pregnant, and even had a friend take a paternity test for him
A fraudster dad faked a paternity test using a friend’s DNA in a bid to try and avoid paying child maintenance fees, a court has heard.
Ex-soldier Gareth Lloyd, 59, denied being the father after an ex-girlfriend told him she was pregnant, and told her: “It’s not mine get rid of it.” After the woman gave birth to a little girl, Lloyd pressured Phillip Jones, 61, a fellow former Welsh Guard, to give his DNA for Lloyd to use in the paternity test.
But the pair were caught out after the woman insisted that Lloyd was the child’s father and an investigation was launched.
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A court heard that the woman gave birth in 2023, and made an application to the Child Maintenance Service naming Lloyd as the father. Prosecutor Harry Dickens said Lloyd initially denied knowing the woman and refused to take a DNA test.
But he was made subject to a Deducation of Earnings Order – a legal order that requires employers to deduct child maintenance directly from an employee’s pay – and changed his mind. Lloyd then requested a DNA test.
Mr Dickens said that after the woman and her daughter had samples taken and a further DNA sample was taken from a man said to be Lloyd. But when the test came back negative, the new mum challenged the findings and an investigation was launched.
Staff at the clinic where the DNA test was carried out were shown a photo of Lloyd, but said they did not recognise him. Analysis of his phone showed he had communicated with Jones on the days before and after the tests.
Tests showed Jones’ phone had been in the vicinity of the clinic in Llandaff, Cardiff, at the time of the tests. Both men were then subjected to DNA tests, with Jones’ matching the sample at the clinic.
Jones was arrested and admitted taking the test to help his friend. Lloyd, who works in the Middle East, was arrested on his return to the UK and gave no comment in his interview. Mr Dickens said the potential loss to the Child Maintenance Service and the victims were in the region of £12,426.
Lloyd, of Rumney, Cardiff, and Jones, of Tremorfa, Cardiff, both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud. Owen Williams, representing Lloyd, said he was “deeply remorseful and ashamed” and has paid back more than £10,000 of the amount defrauded and was now said to have a relationship with his daughter.
Lloyd was also said to have served in the military for 35 years and served tours in Northern Ireland, Afghanistan and Iraq. Cora Sorenson, for Jones, argued that her client could be dealt with by a suspended sentence.
Judge Vanessa Francis told Lloyd: “You were only thinking of yourself, not about your former partner, not about the child you fathered, not about the honour you had lived in through your adult life by serving your country.”
Turning to Jones, the judge said: “It’s apparent as someone who has served alongside Mr Lloyd and lived for so many years out of trouble, you thought no more about this than you were supporting him – you were acting totally dishonourably. This was totally contrary to the man you had been by serving your country.”
Lloyd was handed a 12 month suspended sentence and ordered to carry out 100 hours unpaid work. Jones was sentenced to three months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months.
