Holly Willoughby kidnap investigation: Moment of Gavin Plumb’s arrest shown in court

A security guard told police that Holly Willoughby “was my fantasy” as he was arrested for planning the kidnap of the TV presenter. The recording was played in court.

Gavin Plumb, 37, who gave evidence for the first time on Friday, said: Willoughby43, was “my love of the stars” but insisted he never had any intention of following through on his alleged plans.

In footage played at Chelmsford Crown Court, Police they can be seen breaking down the front door of his house in Harlow, EssexOn October 4 last year, before a topless Plumb asked: “What the hell is going on?”

He stands in his bedroom, mouth agape, while handcuffed, before a police officer explains he has been arrested on suspicion of conspiring to kidnap former This Morning host Willoughby while he sits on his bed.

“I will not lie. She is my fantasy,” he says. “I expect he’s a lot of guys’ fantasy.”

Prosecutors allege Plumb was infatuated with Willoughby, who quit the ITV show last October after 14 years, and planned to kidnap, repeatedly rape and murder her.

An undercover US police officer, using the name David Nelson, told jurors on Thursday that he believed Plumb posed an “imminent threat” to the presenter, who hosted Dancing On Ice earlier this year.

Plumb gave a police officer a recording of his “kidnapping kit” and told her he would use chloroform to kidnap Willoughby from her home and sexually assault her before cutting her throat, a jury heard.

The policeman notified the British police, who found two bottles of liquid in Plumb’s house, as well as items including handcuffs, a rope, chains and zip ties – but no substance was found in them.

Further footage played in court shows Plumb being held in custody at a police station, wearing a dark green T-shirt, while officers search his home, with him saying: “I can guess what they’re looking for.”

Plumb denies three charges of inciting murder and encouraging kidnapping and rape between December 21, 2021, and October 5 last year.

Giving evidence for the first time on Friday, he told the jury he had spent his life online, engaging in “healthy chats” but also fantasising about having sex with celebrities, including Willoughby, who he watched on daytime TV when he was at home, and gained weight to reach 35.5 stone.

“She was my star,” said Plumb, who sat in a chair to testify, wearing a light gray sweater and dark pants, after telling the judge he wouldn’t be able to stand.

When asked how many times he thinks about her per day, Plumb replied, “It depends on how many times I talk about her. Some days it’ll be once, and other days it’ll be four, five, six times.”

However, since 2021, the talks have become “darker”, said Sasha Wass KC, who was questioned by his lawyer.

Plumb told jurors he was “sorry” for the content, adding: “I am absolutely heartbroken, disgusted and shocked that this has come to light.”

Kidnap kit

He admitted that he found the conversations “exciting” at the time, but added: “Looking back on it now, it’s incredibly pathetic because it wasn’t the kind of conversation I would normally be involved in.”

Plumb added: “It was kind of like satisfaction. I knew it was something that would never happen.”

He told the jury he bought most of the items, which were described as a “kidnapping kit”, after a four-month sexual relationship during which he was introduced to “BDSM and rough sex” and that the chloroform was intended to help him clean a “large stain next to the fridge”.

Plumb told jurors his weight began to fluctuate from the age of 13, which “really affected my mental health” as he couldn’t play sports and was often put “in the friend zone” with girls.

Attempted double kidnapping

The defendant said he had only one serious relationship, which he described as “extremely toxic” and which lasted four and a half years, during which there were “constant arguments” and he was “constantly humiliated.”

“I don’t want to be in a relationship anymore,” he said.

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The court heard he had two convictions for attempted kidnapping in 2006, after trying to kidnap two women from a Stansted Express train, later claiming they were cabin crew. He was carrying a rope and an imitation firearm when he was arrested.

Plumb said he wore a uniform and traveled between the parking lots where he worked issuing tickets, and although he admitted he “fantasized about being a flight attendant at the time,” he stated he did it “to end the relationship” and that it was a “cry for help.” .

He was given a suspended sentence, and in 2008 he testified that he used a box cutter to hold down two “screaming, screaming, crying” 16-year-old girls in a warehouse where he worked, taping one of their hands behind their backs.

Plumb said he committed the offences to “escape a relationship” that ended while he was in prison, after he was sentenced to 32 months in prison with half the sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of false imprisonment.

“Normal Fantasy Chat”

After his release, he told jurors he spent 99.9 per cent of his life online, communicating with others about gaming, football and “normal fantasy chats”, but it was “completely different” to the “dark” material he later shared.

Plumb said the chats about how he kept Willoughby in the “dungeon” were “nothing more than conversations”, adding: “It was a rush of excitement because I knew it was an internet chat to get satisfaction and move on.”

He denied encouraging a contact named Marc, who is believed to be based in Ireland, to kidnap or rape Willoughby, saying he never expected him or an undercover officer he believed to be in New York to come to Great Britain Britain.

“I knew it would never be anything more than a fantasy,” he said, telling the jury that he never carried out any of his alleged plans.

The court heard Plumb did not have a driving license or access to a car and therefore concluded he would not have been able to get to her house, while his weight at the time – up to 30 stone – meant he would have been more likely to he will trip over it. a small step than scaling a tall border wall.

“Violent and graphic descriptions”

But prosecutor Alison Morgan KC read some of the explicit and degrading messages and suggested: “These are brutal, graphic descriptions of what you are going to do to Holly Willoughby.”

“No, because it won’t happen,” Plumb replied.

The trial continues.