Gavin Plumb: From 'Quiet Hermit' to 'Imminent Threat' to TV Presenter Holly Willoughby
Gavin Plumb had amassed over 10,000 pictures of Holly Willoughby, and the television presenter was the first name on his handwritten list of 136 female celebrities he kept in his bedside drawer.
Prosecutors revealed that the 37-year-old security guard's obsession with Willoughby went beyond mere fantasy. He had planned to kidnap, repeatedly rape, and murder the former This Morning host to fulfill his "completely out of control" sexual desires.
Warning: Contains graphic content some readers may find distressing
This was not Plumb's first violent offense against women. Chelmsford Crown Court heard that in August 2006, he had a "stewardess fantasy" and attempted to abduct two air hostesses from the Stansted Express train while armed with an imitation firearm and three lengths of rope. Plumb received a 12-month suspended prison sentence.
In December 2008, he attacked two 16-year-old girls in the stockroom of the Woolworths unit where he worked. Armed with a box cutter, he taped one of their hands behind her back before they managed to escape. He served 16 months in prison for this attack.
'Hermit' Who Rarely Went Outside
Ellie Hoad, who dated Plumb for three months in 2007, described him as a "hermit" who stayed inside playing video games like Call of Duty unless he had to go outside. He enjoyed Batman and Star Wars and was "really quiet" but had a "good personality and a good sense of humor."
Plumb, a father of two, said he was close to his mother, stepfather, and one of his three brothers. However, Ms. Hoad said there was no hint of the "misogynistic" man who police described as "willing to use violence at the highest level against women and girls."
His neighbor Joanna mentioned that she rarely saw Plumb but occasionally heard him in the garden having "unusual conversations." She initially thought he was building a gaming forum.
In a 2018 BBC documentary about his obesity, Plumb described how he only left his flat to put out a bin bag every few days. At his heaviest, he weighed 35.5 stone and drank 18 liters of cola every ten days. After gastric surgery, he believed he had turned his life around.
Chilling Voice Notes and 'Kidnap Kit
Plumb's social media history showed he had been sharing sexual posts about Willoughby since at least 2014. Many of the messages he shared with online contacts were so depraved that prosecutors did not read them out in court to respect Ms. Willoughby's privacy and avoid contravening the Obscene Publications Act.
By December 2021, he was communicating with a man in Ireland known as Marc, who had previously been jailed for stalking and fantasizing about raping TV stars. Plumb outlined his plans in chilling voice notes, including attacking Willoughby in her home.
"Plan of action - basically we're going to hit it at night, less traffic on the road etc., chloroform both of them, that way they can be easily restrained, pick out outfits we like, then obviously take her and the outfits with us, and then we're gone," he said.
Plumb was an admin of a public Holly Willoughby fan group on a messaging app, where 50 members shared and discussed images of her for sexual gratification. He also belonged to the "Abduct Lovers" group, monitored by an undercover US police officer. Plumb sent this officer pictures of Willoughby, her home, and a video of his "kidnap kit" that included shackles, a blindfold, handcuffs, a ball gag, rope, and metal cable ties.
Plan to Dispose of Body in Lake
In messages, Plumb said he would slit Willoughby's throat, cover her in bleach, and dispose of her body in a lake. He had researched imitation firearms and bought a folding knife.
The undercover officer, who told Plumb he would travel from New York to help execute the plan, alerted the FBI and UK police. They raided Plumb's flat in Harlow, Essex, on October 4 last year, finding two bottles labeled chloroform (which did not contain the substance) and the items from Plumb's kit.
Inside Plumb's cluttered flat were a wine fridge filled with cola and chocolate bars, and Ghostbusters toys on the shelves.
Imminent Danger'
Nicola Rice, a Crown Prosecution Service specialist prosecutor, said Willoughby had no idea she was the target of Plumb's plot until police informed her of the imminent danger. She left This Morning after 14 years, shortly after Plumb's arrest, stating in a social media post: "I have to make this decision for me and my family."
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