Holly Willoughby murder kidnap plotter Gavin Plumb found guilty

A security guard has been found guilty of masterminding a plot to kidnap, rape and murder TV presenter Holly Willoughby.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard how Gavin Plumb, 37, from Harlow, Essex, assembled an “abduction kit” – complete with handcuffs and metal cable ties – to help carry out his attack on the former This Morning presenter.

A jury dismissed the 37-year-old’s defence that his plans were a “mere fantasy”, agreeing with the prosecution that he was a “prolific liar who sought to minimise the extent of his criminality”.

The jury today (4 July) unanimously convicted him of soliciting murder and inciting rape and kidnap.

After the verdicts were announced he slowly shook his head and stared at the floor of the dock.

Plumb had previously denied soliciting murder, incitement to rape and incitement to kidnap.

The court heard Plumb developed an “obsession” with the star over a number of years.

Plumb who used the user name Big Bear to chat to others about his plot online, appeared to formulate his fantasy as early as 2011 – googling the phrase “how to meet people who plan to kidnap celebs”, the court heard.

During the trial, jurors were taken through a lengthy “sequence of events” document, which displayed Plumb’s “appalling messages” to others about what he would do to the Dancing On Ice presenter.

His plans were foiled by an undercover police officer from the Owatonna Police Department in Minnesota, US who Plump tried to recruit as an accomplice.

Plumb told Mr Nelson he was “definitely serious” about his plot to kidnap Ms Willoughby, which left the officer with the impression that there was an “imminent threat” to her.

Evidence was passed to the FBI and the defendant was arrested at his flat in Harlow, Essex, on 4 October, where he told officers: “I’m not gonna lie, she is a fantasy of mine.”

His kidnap plans involved attempting to “ambush” Ms Willoughby at her family home and he discussed taking time off work in order to organise the attack.

Plumb told online users he would then take the presenter to another location, which he suggested would be a “dungeon” type room.

The jury was told he checked out an abandoned stud farm with cells to “keep” Ms Willoughby and his messages indicted he planned to rape the TV star at the location, before killing her and then putting her “into a lake at night”.

Prosecutors described Plumb’s plot as “carefully planned” and highlighted items he had purchased and the lengths he went to find out when Ms Willoughby did not have security.

The prosecution told the court about Plumb’s previous convictions for false imprisonment and attempted kidnap and said the they showed he “knew what it would take to terrify and overpower a woman”.

At the end of the trial, prosecutor Alison Morgan highlighted the obvious flaws in Plumb’s defence – saying the “boring details” of his plans were not “sexy or gratifying”.

Plumb told jurors that bottles of chloroform found by police in his flat were to clean a carpet stain and that he had bought a BDSM kit, including a set of handcuffs, in 2014 “to rekindle my relationship with my ex-partner”.

He said he had read articles on “what it’s like to be raped” in 2021 in order to help a female friend, and did not initially hand over his phone’s pin number to officers because he had previously had “problems” with the police.

Plumb also claimed that because he weighed “between 25-30 stone” would not be possible for him to “jump” over Ms Willoughby’s garden wall during his bid to kidnap her, as he stated in an online chat.

He told jurors his online chats were “massively regrettable” and that he was “heartbroken, disgusted and shocked” that they had been show to the court..

Plumb will be sentenced at the same court on Friday 12 July.

Additional reporting by Press Association.