Gavin Plumb has been sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of plotting to kidnap and kill Holly Willoughby. He will serve a minimum term of 15 years and 85 days.
The Essex security guard had stood trial accused of hatching a plan to kidnap, rape and murder the former This Morning presenter. During the trial, Holly waived her right to anonymity.
During the sentencing at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday (July 12), prosecutor Alison Morgan KC said Holly wished for her victim statement to stay private. But she said: “It is abundantly clear that in making that statement the prosecution submits the impact of this offending has been life-changing for the victim of these offences – both in private and personal terms – private, personal and indeed professional.”
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Sentencing, Mr Justice Edward Murray said after reading Holly’s private statement: “I simply note I am satisfied these offences have had life-changing consequences for her both privately and professionally.”
According to The Mirror, Plumb muttered “15 years to kill myself” as he was taken to cells, but was impassive as the sentence was delivered.
Plumb, 37, was arrested in October 2023. He was accused of putting together a “kidnap and restraint kit” and enlisting the help of David Nelson, who was actually an undercover policeman based in the US, to fly to the UK to carry out the plan.
(Image: PA)
In the trial, details of the plan were shared. In one voice note, Plumb could be heard saying: “We’re then gonna force her to make a video just saying that she come with us under her own free will erm that she’s with us under her own free will and she’s fully consenting into everything we do to her so that covers us.”
The man also was alleged to have scoped out an abandoned farm to “keep” Holly at. Plumb was found to have shared the plan with other men, including one by the name of Ryan and another who went by Marc.
Plumb told a man online he had been planning to kidnap Holly “for about two and a half years”. He had a plan to use “chloroform” on Holly and her husband, tie them up and then take her.
(Image: PA)
In a message read to jurors in court, Plumb said afterwards he would “slit her throat clean her out and dispose of it”.
Plumb’s defence, Sasha Wass KC, argued that the plan was “dark and twisted… but a fantasy nonetheless”. It was said that Plumb “had neither the means or the opportunity to carry out any of the things he mentioned in his chats”. Wass KC also told jurors that Plumb “will never meet and had no intention of meeting” Holly.
Meanwhile, prosecuting, Alison Morgan KC told the court: “All this defendant can say is what he said in his evidence. ‘This was just chat’. I can expect you to hear that. ‘Just fantasies, just words, all just a fantasy of a sad, lonely and overweight man’.
“That’s what I predict is coming in suggestions to you. That he could never have seriously offended because he can’t even drive, that he was too overweight, he could never have climbed that wall, that he wasn’t right about a lack of CCTV, and that he hadn’t found another address that he could take Holly Willoughby after the kidnapping.”
(Image: Kieron McCarron/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Ms Morgan said: “I suggest to you that he is a prolific liar and that he’s tried to minimise the extent of his criminality to you, and if you agree with that, what does that tell you when he stands there and tells you it’s all just fantasy?”
She added: “Your impression of him and what you believe when he stands there and says that is crucial. If this was all just a fantasy that was never intended, you have to think this was precisely the thing he wanted to make clear to the police when arrested.
“I suggest what you see in front of you is a sly individual. He knows what he has hidden away and what he has written on his phone. When he’s being arrested for the kidnap of Holly Willoughby, he said ‘not gonna lie she’s a fantasy of mine’.”
For emotional support, you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
