1 of 2 | Former British security guard Gavin Plumb had previously been convicted of attempted kidnapping in 2006 and false imprisonment in 2008. Photo courtesy Essex Police
A former security guard convicted of plotting to kidnap, rape and murder British TV personality Holly Willoughby was sentenced Friday to life in prison.
Gavin Plumb, 37, of Essex was found guilty earlier in July on three charges of soliciting murder, encouraging or assisting the commission of kidnap and encouraging or assisting the commission of rape. Advertisement
Plumb had elaborately planned to live out his “ultimate fantasy” to break into Willoughby’s home and rape her in front of her family before kidnaping her, murdering her and disposing of her body in an abandoned building near London.
His plot, however, was foiled when he unknowingly shared it with an undercover American police officer monitoring a Kik chatroom called “Abduct Lovers.”
The anonymous police officer, who went under the Kik alias David Nelson, notified the FBI of Plumb’s intentions. The FBI alerted Essex Police, who arrested Plumb and raided his home in October 2023. Advertisement
Investigators said they found more than 10,000 images on Willoughby on his phone, including deepfake pornography.
The trial revealed Plumb also had bought 400 heavy-duty metal cable ties, a folding knife and bottles allegedly containing chloroform.
At the sentencing hearing, Justice Edward Murray described some of Plumb’s plans as “particularly sadistic, brutal and degrading.”
“There is no doubt that if you had genuinely found one or more accomplices who were seriously interested in and had been willing to join you in carrying your plan through then you would have put this plan into action,” Murray said.
Plumb initially shared his plans exclusively with another user known only as “Marc,” who the court heard had bragged of being a convicted stalker.
In 2021, Plumb gathered information on Willoughby, including where she lived, and discussed with “Marc” the possibility of a home invasion. He also discussed using his training as a security guard to gain employment at ITV and get closer to Willoughby.
In 2023, Plumb told “Marc” in a video message, “We’re then going to force her [Willoughby] to make a video saying she came with us under her own free will … and she’s fully consenting to everything we do to her — so that covers us.” Advertisement
Plumb during the trial admitted that the messages he sent online were “dark” but that his fantasy was “something I knew that was never going to happen.”
Prosecutor Allison Morgan at the sentencing hearing said Plumb had a “real intention” to raid Willoughby’s home, “take her to a location where she would be raped repeatedly” and then murder her.
“The impact of this offending has been life-changing for the victim of these offenses — both in private and personal terms — private, personal and indeed professional,” Morgan said.
Willoughby, who did not attend any of the court proceedings, asked for her victim personal statement to be private, Morgan said.
The TV personality stepped down from her 14-year stint at ITV’s This Morning in October 2023 after learning of Plumb’s intentions. She returned to TV this year to co-host Dancing on Ice.
Plumb was previously convicted of attempted kidnap in 2006 for trying to force two airline stewardesses off a train in two separate instances over three days.
He was convicted in 2008 of false imprisonment for tying the wrists of two 16-year-old girls and forcing them into the back room of a store.
