Vile security guard who hatched sinister plot to rape & murder Holly Willoughby loses bid to slash his sentence
A SECURITY guard jailed for plotting to kidnap, rape and murder TV presenter Holly Willoughby has lost his bid to slash his sentence at the Court of Appeal.
Gavin Plumb was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 16 years in July last year after being unanimously convicted of soliciting murder and encouraging or assisting others to rape and kidnap.
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Gavin Plumb was jailed over a vile plot to kidnap Holly WilloughbyCredit: PA
The security guard planned to rape then murder the starCredit: Getty
Plumb was arrested after an undercover cop foiled his plotCredit: PA
A trial at Chelmsford Crown Court heard that Essex Police found bottles of chloroform and an “abduction kit” complete with cable ties when officers raided the 38-year-old’s flat in Harlow.
Jurors also heard that Plumb’s kidnap plans involved attempting to “ambush” Ms Willoughby at her family home, even discussing taking time off work to organise the attack.
Plumb had argued in his defence that it was just online chat and fantasy.
Sentencing him, Mr Justice Murray described some of Plumb’s plans as “particularly sadistic, brutal and degrading”, and said he had “no doubt that this was all considerably more than a fantasy”.
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Failed challenge
Plumb today sought to appeal against his sentence, with the challenge heard by Lord Justice Edis, Mr Justice Martin Spencer and Ms Justice Norton at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.
At a hearing on Tuesday, barristers for Plumb argued his sentence was “manifestly excessive” and should be reduced.
But Plumb’s appeal was dismissed and Lord Justice Edis said: “This is a case where the offender clearly is dangerous and where there is no way of knowing when or if ever that will cease to be the case.”
He continued that the decision of the sentencing judge, Mr Justice Murray, to pass a life sentence was “unimpeachable”.
He concluded: “With that, the appeal fails.”
Alison Morgan KC, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said Gavin Plumb’s offending had “life-changing consequences” for Holly Willoughby.
She said: “What else was the judge to do but conclude that the risk posed by this applicant from the facts of the offending and previous convictions could not be met with anything other than a life sentence?”
Ms Morgan continued that the harm intended by Plumb was “of the very highest level”.
She said: “These were life-changing events given the magnitude of this offending and the impact on Ms Willoughby as a result.”
He was snared after a US undercover police officer from the Owatonna Police Department in the US state of Minnesota infiltrated an online group called Abduct Lovers.
Plumb told the officer, who used the pseudonym David Nelson, that he was “definitely serious” about his plot to kidnap Ms Willoughby, leaving the officer with the impression that there was an “imminent threat” to her.
The officer became so concerned about Plumb’s posts that evidence was passed to the FBI, with US law enforcement then contacting police in the UK.
When he was arrested on October 4 2023, and officers told him that the allegations concerned Ms Willoughby, the defendant told them: “I’m not gonna lie, she is a fantasy of mine.”
At the sentencing hearing, prosecutor Alison Morgan KC said the offences had had a “catastrophic impact” on Ms Willoughby, stating: “The extent of the shock and fear caused by this offending has been impossible to convey.”
The Dancing On Ice star, who asked for her victim personal statement to be private, waived her right to anonymity in connection with the charge against Plumb of assisting or encouraging rape.
The plot had a “catastrophic and life-changing impact” on her, the court heard in Plumb’s sentencing hearing last summer.
Jurors were told Plumb began obsessing over the former This Morning star when his weight ballooned to 35 stone.
As he was housebound, he began watching more daytime TV, which led to Plumb developing a “celebrity crush” on Holly.
This turned sinister when Plumb set his sights on snatching the presenter after spending years researching kidnapping celebs.
The security guard had made previous abduction attempts – targeting two cabin crew workers on a train as air stewardesses were a “fantasy” of his.
He also tied up a 16-year-old girl at knifepoint but was freed from jail for that disturbing offence in 2010.
Following his release, Plumb spent “99.9 per cent” of his time online – trawling through creepy websites for an accomplice as he formulated his Holly kidnap plot.
He collected a cache of millions of images of the presenter and other female celebrities.
Plumb also tracked Holly’s movements and activities for “some time” as he gathered intel on her security arrangements.
At one stage, he even considered booking a tour to the ITV studios that would involve meeting presenters.
He discussed the plot with an accomplice named Marc, telling him: “I’m at the point where idc (I don’t care) about the risks or consequences.”
In voice notes between the pair, Plumb told how they could strike in the dead of night – using chloroform on Holly and her husband Dan Baldwin to knock them out.
The security guard also said the “home invasion” plan would guarantee that “Phil will get a new co-host” – referring to Holly’s former This Morning host Phillip Schofield.
As his ideas began to take shape, Plumb ordered 400 “heavy duty” cable ties from Amazon for a “restraint kit”.
He also purchased two £9.20 bottles of chloroform, handcuffs, shackles and a gag – with a chilling image showing all the instruments laid out on his bed.
The restraint kit Plumb compiled as he plotted to snatch HollyCredit: PA
He also bought two bottles of chloroform to ‘stupefy’ the starCredit: PA
Plumb concocted the plot from his messy bedroomCredit: PA
But greedy Plumb could not resist sharing the secret plot with undercover “David Nelson”.
In alarming one-on-one chats, he shared videos of the kit and a map showing the route between his house in Essex and Holly’s home.
Plumb also used the alias “BigBear” to post pictures of the star on the shocking Abduct Lovers website.
Believing the plan was a “credible” one, Nelson contacted both the FBI and police, who swooped on Plumb’s home in October last year.
Footage showed the officers being greeted by a topless Plumb, who told them Holly was a “fantasy of mine”.
He also demanded “what are you talking about?” and asked officers “what the hell was going on”.
Plumb was holding a mobile at the time, which he refused to hand over a pin for as officers didn’t “need to know that now”.
Having heard that police would search his house, Plumb said: “I mean based on what you’ve said I can pretty much guess what you’re looking for.”
He later added: “As I said, it’s totally taken me by surprise. I know what it’s about, I can tell you, I reckon, I, I know what it’s about.”
Plumb then answered no comment to all questions in two police interviews after he was taken into custody.
Chilling echoes – how Plumb became obsessed with kidnapping Holly after previous snatch attempts
By Holly Christodoulou, Digital Court Editor
YEARS before Plumb had even set his sights on Holly, he became fixated on fulfilling a warped kidnap fantasy.
The security guard spent his time hunched over a computer screen as he trawled through forums dedicated to abduction.
In 2006, Plumb tried to lure a terrified cabin crew worker off a train using a threatening note.
He wrote: “I have got a gun. All you have to do is keep quiet. Do what I say. So just stand up and get off at the next stop with me. Don’t cry or make a sound.
“Don’t stop me from touching you because I won’t hurt you. If you do all of this, no-one will get hurt but if you don’t I am going to shoot you and myself and everyone else.”
Although the plan failed, undeterred Plumb tried again just two days later when he stumbled across another air stewardess on a train.
This time – armed with an imitation firearm and rope – he pretended to be a police officer to get the woman off the train and kidnap her.
But again the plan failed and Plumb retreated back to his online friends to hone his plan.
He put this into practice in 2008 when he attempted to tie up two teenage girls while working in Woolworths.
Holding one 16-year-old at knifepoint, he told her: “Get to the back of the storeroom”.
He was locked up but released two years later where he set the wheels in motion to snatch his “ultimate fantasy” Holly.
Drawing from his previous experience, Plumb knew exactly what it would take to “terrify and overpower a woman”.
This was evident in his “restraint kit”, which consisted of handcuffs, shackles, a gag and two bottles of chloroform.
Thankfully for Holly, he chose the wrong online accomplice to reveal his plan to – an undercover cop who was able to warn police before it was too late.
Hopefully Plumb will now be locked up for a long time so he won’t be able to make his disturbing fantasy a reality.
Holly meanwhile had been just moments away from going on air for This Morning when she was told about the sick plot.
The mum-of-three, 43, announced later that month she was stepping down from the show after 14 years.
She said in a social media post at the time: “I have to make this decision for me and my family.”
The star previously told how she will be “forever grateful” to those who foiled the evil plot following the verdict.
Holly added: “As women we should not be made to feel unsafe going about our daily lives and in our own homes.
“I will forever be grateful to the undercover police officer who understood the imminent threat, and to the Metropolitan and Essex police forces for their swift response.
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“Thank you to the Crown Prosecution Service, the Rt Hon Mr Justice Murray, Alison Morgan KC, the members of the jury and all involved in this case for ensuring that justice was done and that the defendant will not be able to harm any more women.
“I would also like to commend the bravery of his previous victims for speaking up at the time. Without their bravery this conviction may not have been possible.”
Plumb tried to claim his plans were just fantasy
Holly was told about the plot moments before she was due to go on airCredit: PA
She bravely waived her anonymity so she could be named in the trialCredit: PA
