Holly Willoughby ‘murder plot’ trial – ‘kidnap kit’, chloroform and empty farm visit

The trial of a man who allegedly conspired to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby entered its third day of evidence in court on Wednesday (June 26).

Security guard Gavin Plumb, 37, is accused of trying to arrange the “sexually motivated” murder of the former This Morning star. He is charged with and denies soliciting murder and incitement to kidnapping and rape last October in Harlow, Essex.

Plumb was arrested last year and charged on October 6 for the alleged plot. The ex-Pizza Hut worker is also accused of having contact with a “third party” in America to allegedly abduct and kill the Dancing on Ice star.

The trial kicked off at Chelmsford Crown Court in Essex on Monday (June 24) and continued on Wednesday. Daily Star has rounded up the most explosive details heard by the court on its third day.

Plumb had ‘kidnap kit’ with handcuffs and gags, court hears

Plumb allegedly planned to use a “kidnap and restraint kit” to abduct, rape and murder Holly Willoughby. The court heard that he bought items including handcuffs, a ball gag, rope, cable ties and ankle shackles.

The court was also shown an image of the items allegedly bought by Plumb. Prosecutors claimed he planned to use the kits to commit the attack on the ITV presenter and it was also alleged he ordered two bottles of chloroform.

Plumb planned to force Holly to film video, court hears

Plumb allegedly told a man called Marc that he wanted Ms Willoughby to film a video under duress. In this video, the presenter would state that she had consented to be taken.

In a voice note played to the court, Plumb allegedly said: “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.”

Plumb checked out abandoned stud farm to hold Holly, court hears

The security guard looked at an abandoned farm with cells to “keep” Holly, the court heard. Plumb allegedly told another man she would be put in a van after a “home invasion” before being taken to her “new home”.

In a WhatsApp exchange read to the court by prosecutor Alison Morgan KC, the defendant allegedly said: “We’ve got somewhere in the country to keep her Ryan (another man he had been speaking with) is interested again by the looks of it.”

The man he was allegedly speaking with, who went by the name of Marc, replied: “Cool where is the location.” Plumballegedly said it was “a stud farm that’s abandoned”, adding: “It’s got cells.”

Plumb sent Twitter message to Holly, court hears

The former security officer sent private messages to Holly Willoughby and another woman, the court was told. In these alleged messages, he claimed he’d spotted nude photos of them posted on Twitter (now called X).

The alleged message from Plumb Willoughby sent on March 29, 2023 read: “Hi holly I doubt you’ll even reply but I wanted to see if you are aware that there is some very real looking images of you online”. Plumb later allegedly wrote to Marc: “If they respond I’ll tell them that I could get them removed depending on they’ll do for me lol”.

‘Slit her throat’

Gavin Plumb told a man online that he had been planning to kidnap the broadcaster “for about two and a half years”, a court heard. It’s claimed he didn’t know the man was an undercover police officer.

Plumb allegedly told the officer that once their attack on Holly was carried out, he would kill her, dispose of any DNA evidence of his involvement then dispose of her body “in a lake somewhere”.

He had allegedly told the officer, on the online platform Kik, about the plan to abduct the presenter. A message read out in court said: “Well it’s a home invasion so we’ll use the chloroform on her and her husband tie both up, take her leave him then it’s take to where she’s being kept and enjoy her.”

Asked what they would do when they were done, Plumb said in a message read to jurors in court: “Slit her throat clean her out and dispose of it.” Asked when he wanted to do it, Plumb said: “As soon as I’ve been planning it for about two and a half years.”

Plumb had thousands of photos of Holly Willoughby on his phone, court told

Some of the agreed facts – not disputed by the prosecution and defence – include Plumb having a folder with 10,322 photos of Holly Willoughby on his devices. There were over 19,000 items on the devices when “Holly” was searched, including deep fake pornographic images and Plumb had also searched the terms “rape”, “kidnap”, “murder” and “kill” online.

Plumb had ‘wish’ list with Holly’s name on it, court told

Plumb kept a list of women he wanted to control in a Microsoft Word document, dated July 2016, and Holly was the first name on this list, a court heard. Junior prosecution counsel Rosalind Earis, reading a series of agreed facts out in court, said one of Plumb’s devices had a Microsoft Word document entitled ‘Wishes’.

This, she said, consisted of “four pages of text in which Gavin Plumb set out his ambitions and wishes for life”. She added: “It included a list of women that Gavin Plumb wanted to have control over; Holly Willoughby was the first name on this list”.

Plumb told undercover officer he tried to abduct two women, court told

Gavin Plumb told the undercover police officer that he had served 16 months in prison for trying to abduct two women, a court heard. In an online message, read to jurors, Plumb allegedly said he took the two women “to the back of an open warehouse that gave them a lot of chances to escape”.

He continued: “If I’d planned it, I would have got them into the smaller storage room that only had one exit and entrance, and was soundproof.” Another message read: “I tried to force two air hostesses of (sic) a train as well and got a suspended sentence.”

‘Screams would not be heard for miles’

Alleged messages from Plumb to Marc at the end of May 2022 shared with the court suggest frustration at failed attempts to get others involved in the alleged plot. When Marc allegedly asks about other members, Plumb says it is the “same s*** different day”, adding: “I’ve had some interest nothing concrete though”.

By June 2022, Plumb appeared to have made progress with another person called “Ryan”. He had allegedly shared a picture with Marc of a seemingly abandoned room which was “big enough for a bed”.

Marc responds that any screams “would not be heard for miles”. However, it is not clear where the picture was taken.

The trial continues.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk