Holly Willoughby kidnap plot was not real and 'ramblings of sad and lonely fantasist', court told
A plot to kidnap, rape, and murder Holly Willoughby was a “dark and twisted fantasy” of a lonely security guard but never a real plan, jurors have been told.
Gavin Plumb, 37, is accused of planning to ambush the TV star at her family home, using chloroform to overpower Ms Willoughby and her husband Dan, and take her away to a secluded location.
It is said Plumb, a shopping centre security guard, wanted to repeatedly rape the former This Morning host and was plotting for her to then be murdered and dumped in a lake.
Prosecutors have argued Plumb’s online chats setting out the “plan” were part of a genuine plot to kidnap and rape Ms Willoughby as well as soliciting her murder.
But Sasha Wass KC, defending, told jurors at Chelmsford crown court that Plumb was a “sad, isolated fantasist” who never intended to do anything in real life against the TV star.
“He is an isolated, lonely individual who lived out his fantasy life online”, she said.
“These were the ramblings of a rather sad, isolated fantasist.”Plumb has previous convictions for trying to kidnap two air stewardesses on trains in 2006 and a failed bid to tie up 16 year old girls two years later.
He told the court he committed those crimes as a “cry for help” while attempting to escape from a “toxic” relationship.
But the prosecution has argued those crimes show Plumb was willing to turn fantasies into reality.
Plumb is accused of plotting Ms Willoughby’s kidnap in late 2021 and 2022 with an online contact known as ‘Marc’.
It is said he laid out the plans again in October 2023 to another online contact, not realising it was actually an undercover US police officer.
It is said Plumb had drawn plans to use chloroform, handcuffs, and cables ties to overpower Ms Willoughby and her husband Dan Baldwin.
He had identified a lane near to her family home as a “good ambush point”, it is said, and set out in graphic detail his sexual desires towards the star.
He also allegedly plotted to force Ms Willoughby to make a video, saying she agreed to go with him and “fully consented to anything we do with her”.
He wrote to Marc in 2022: “Getting her has been my ultimate fantasy for way too long. I’m now at the point that fantasy isn’t enough anymore. I want the real thing.”
Ms Wass said Plumb and his online associates had discussed “wild, horrific, and dangerous” acts, and she said Plumb admits the “vile and misogynistic” messages were wrong.
“They all talked the talk, but none of these people did anything about it”, she said.
“The fun, if that’s the right word in this context, was the fantasy - pretending the plan would be put into effect when they all knew perfectly well it was never going to be the case.”
Plumb told the court last week that he battled weight issues since his teenage years, and at times was housebound when weighing 35 stone.
He said he lived “99.9 per cent” of his life online at times, and Ms Wass rubbished the idea that he could actually have carried out what was described as a “home invasion”.
“The prosecution case against Gavin Plumb rests entirely on suggestions when Gavin Plumb exchanged texts with various individuals”, she said.
“The prosecution’s case is that when he sent those texts, Mr Plumb was being completely serious and he intended to be taken seriously by those who received the texts.
“What the prosecution suggests is when Mr Plumb spoke of a home invasion of celebrity Holly Willoughby and her house, that was something he actually propose to do.
“The prosecution suggests when Mr Plumb spoke of keeping Ms Willoughby prisoner in his own flat, when he and fellow Holly Willoughby fans would have sex with her, that Mr Plumb actually planned this would happen.
“Speaking of slitting Ms Willoughby’s throat, covering her in bleach, and putting her in a bed, this was something Mr Plumb actually intended.
“What he was actually doing was living out a fantasy. A dark and twisted fantasy, but a fantasy nonetheless.”
She added that Plumb had no idea why he was being arrested when police came to his home, and he freely admitted at the time that Ms Willoughby was a “fantasy of mine”.
“She’s a fantasy of a lot of guys, isn’t she?”, added Ms Wass.
Plumb, from Harlow in Essex, denies soliciting murder and encouraging or assisting in the commission of offences – rape and kidnap.
The trial continues.
