Call it a conspiracy or whatever but I think either Lloyd or someone close to Lloyd wanted to prove how his "haters" would take anything and run with it. So they "leaked" this story and then shared what they did with Lloyd.
I agree with you except for the quote above. Fabricating a crime even against himself is still a crime. Now let's assume that the police investigates and finds out that those emails were fabricated. The responsible would be accused of perverting the course of justice which in England and Wales is a serious offence. If O'Donnels knew about this he could share some responsibilities. Anything is possible but there's a lot at stake here and I am not sure he would have accepted to go that far.