[3] The inter-ligand distances in a wide range of molecules have been determined.
[5] From a study of known structural data a series of inter-ligand distances has been determined[1] and it has been found that there is a constant inter-ligand radius for a given central atom.
In LCP theory a lone pair is treated as a ligand.
Gillespie terms the lone pair a lone pair domain and states that these lone pair domains push the ligands together until they reach the interligand distance predicted by the relevant inter-ligand radii.
[1] An example demonstrating this is shown below, where the F-F distance is the same in the AF3 and AF4+ species : LCP and VSEPR make very similar predictions as to geometry but LCP theory has the advantage that predictions are more quantitative particularly for the second period elements, Be, B, C, N, O, F. Ligand -ligand repulsions are important when[1]