“The defendant had carefully planned what he would do and how he would do it, purchasing items that would assist him in carrying out the attack,” said the prosecutor in court this week.
An “obsessed” security guard plotted to abduct, rape and murder British TV personality Holly Willoughby, a court has heard.
Shopping center security guard Gavin Plumb is on trial at Chelmsford Crown Court in England after being charged with soliciting a man to commit murder, and incitement to commit a kidnapping and rape. He denies the charges.
“It was not just the ramblings of a fantasist,” prosecutor Alison Morgan KC said in court, per the BBC. “The defendant had carefully planned what he would do and how he would do it, purchasing items that would assist him in carrying out the attack.”
Warning: Disturbing allegations below.
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Per Morgan, Plumb allegedly developed an “obsession” with the former This Morning host over a number of years. She claimed the defendant allegedly told another man in 2021 he was “going to be living out my ultimate fantasy” and was “now at the point that fantasy isn’t enough anymore. I want the real thing” — claiming he purchased 400 “heavy duty” metal cable ties.
The court was played a voice note where Plumb allegedly “explained his plans to kidnap, rape and murder the celebrity Holly Willoughby” to this other man.
“Chloroform both of them [Ms Willoughby and her husband] that way then they can both be easily restrained,” he reportedly said in the note. “We’re then gonna force her to make a video saying she come with us under her own free will … and she’s fully consenting to everything we do to her — so that covers us.”
In October 2023, Plumb allegedly engaged in an online chat with someone else Morgan said Plumb believed was “a like-minded abductor,” but was actually an undercover cop, who later reported the communications to UK authorities. “The defendant set out his plans and sought to encourage the other person to commit those offenses with him,” said the prosecutor.
Morgan claimed Plumb wanted to “kidnap, rape and murder” Willoughby, calling the alleged plans “graphic” and “obviously sexually motivated.” The prosecutor also showed video of Plumb showing off what Morgan characterized as a “kit of sexualized paraphernalia” — including shackles and a ball gag — after being asked by the undercover officer if he was “serious” about his plans.
He was then arrested, with Morgan saying that had authorities not intervened, “catastrophic violence” would have been committed against Willoughby. During a subsequent investigation, “deep fake” pornographic images of Willoughby were reportedly found among 10,322 images of her in a folder titled “Holly” on Plumb’s phone. Google searches also reportedly showed him looking up, “how to meet people who plan to kidnap celebrities.”
The trial at Chelmsford Crown Court is ongoing and expected to last two weeks..
