Gavin Plumb has been found guilty of plotting to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby last year
Police body-cam footage shows Gavin Plumb’s arrest in flat
Gavin Plumb complied a kidnap kit that he planned to use on Holly Willoughby in a ‘dark and twisted fantasy’, a court heard last week.
The 37-year-old security guard has been found guilty of planning to kidnap the former This Morning presenter at the home she shares with her husband Dan Baldwin and their three children over a period of nearly two years until he was apprehended last October.
Jurors at Chelmsford Crown Court last week heard that Plumb planned to ambush the TV star, use chloroform to overpower Holly and her husband, and take the Dancing on Ice presenter to a secret location.
Prosecution lawyers alleged Plumb then wanted to repeatedly rape the star, and plotted to murder her and dump her body in a lake. He first began laying out his plans in 2021 and early 2022. The court also heard that last year, he started speaking to a contact online about his horrifying ideas. However, Plumb did not realise the contact was in fact an undercover US police officer from Owatonna Police in Minnesota.
During the trial on Wednesday 26th June, prosecutor Alison Morgan KC presented evidence alongside Detective Constable William Belsham from Essex Police. The jury heard discussions about acquiring chloroform, which Plumb noted is not illegal to purchase or possess in the UK, alleging he had bought two bottles online for £9.20.
Later, after sending an online contact named Marc images of what he claimed to be the chemical, he said: “Look what I’ve some home to on my doorstep..oh yeah.” Junior prosecution counsel Rosalind Earis informed the court that Plumb had a staggering 10,322 photos in an album titled “Holly”. An album named “screenshots” contained images mapping the route from his house to Holly’s address.
A separate file held 35 photographs which were a disturbing mix of snaps of Holly Willoughby and explicit pictures of women, some depicting women bound and gagged, Ms Earis detailed. The investigation revealed Plumb’s obsession, with him having searched for “Holly” 19,137 times online, and making 211 searches on deepfake adult sites.
Detectives also uncovered a Microsoft Word document named “Wishes”, where Plumb listed his desires, with Holly being the “first name” among the women he wished to dominate, the courtroom was told. Another file from 2014 included just one sentence: “In July 2014 Holly and Gavin Plumb (born 25 February 1987) ended their year-long affair”.
When he was arrested by UK police last year, officers found two bottles of liquid in his home, alongside handcuffs, rope, shackles and cable ties. Footage was played in court of the moment Plumb was arrested, and when officers began searching his flat, he told them: “I can pretty much guess what they’re looking for.”
He later told the jury that he had purchased the items after becoming introduced to “BDSM and rough sex”, and the chloroform was to clean “a large stain next to my fridge”. Holly waived her right to anonymity regarding the incitement to rape charge.
Following Plumb’s initial arrest in October, Holly took a break from presenting This Morning and later quit the ITV show, telling fans she was stepping down from the role after 14 years “for me and my family”. The mum-of-three returned to our screens in January to present the 2024 series of Dancing On Ice. Holly waived her right to anonymity regarding the incitement to rape charge.
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