The trial of a man who allegedly conspired to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby has thrown up yet more bombshells.
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 fourth day of the trial at Chelmsford Crown Court kicked off on Thursday and saw the undercover policeman who exposed the alleged crimes give evidence. Daily Star has rounded up the most explosive details heard by the jurors.
Plumb was ‘imminent threat’ to Holly Willoughby, court hears
(Image: PA)
The undercover police officer who discussed and revealed the alleged rape, kidnap and murder of Willoughby claimed he felt there was an “imminent threat” to the ITV star. The anonymous officer told jurors he was looking for instances of kidnapping and other crimes in his role.
The witness, who used the alias David Nelson and appeared in court via video link from the US, claimed he came across Plumb in an online group called Abduct Lovers. He told jurors that he’d seen a post from Plumb which caused enough “concern” to message Plumb privately.
He said he feared Plumb “must be approaching” the TV star after reading the post and passed the information about the former security guard to the FBI. He said he was providing up to date information about Plumb and that the FBI were in dialogue with the Met Police.
The undercover cop, who lives in the States, said he showed Plumb a flight confirmation “to show him that I was willing to accomplice him in this act”. Asked by the prosecution why he decided to send a direct message to Plumb, he replied: “I felt there was imminent threat to the female at that time.”
Holly was ‘fantasy’ of Plumb’s, court told
Junior prosecution counsel Rosalind Earis read from a set of agreed facts between the prosecution and defence. She told the court that the defendant was arrested at 9.45pm on suspicion of conspiracy to kidnap.
Plumb asked police who he was alleged to be planning to kidnap, officers told him it related to Holly Willoughby. Ms Earis said that at 9.46pm Gavin Plumb said: “I’m not gonna lie, she is a fantasy of mine.”
Plumb didn’t have driving license, court hears
The defence barrister for Plumb, Sasha Wass KC, quizzed the undercover cop on Plumb’s alleged kidnap plan and the credibility of it. She asked: “Would you agree that in determining whether it was fantasy or not in due course… one of the things you would have to decide is whether a credible plan was set out?”
The officer replied: “Yes, in the context of this conversation it would be very important to determine what if any credible plan would have been put in place.” Wass asked him if “the fact (Plumb) didn’t drive caused (him) to re-evaluate the viability of this plan of his to kidnap a woman (Holly) who had been rendered unconscious”.
He replied: “I’m not privy to driving laws in London or the UK, but in the US it’s not uncommon for someone who doesn’t have a driving licence to drive a motor vehicle.” He added: “I didn’t feel this posed a problem.”
Plumb ‘significantly overweight’, court hears
Plumb’s weight and how it related to his alleged plan was also raised in court. It had been alleged that Plumb planned to jump the outer wall of Holly’s property.
Ms Wass, for Plumb, asked the officer: “You are looking at a picture of a man who’s significantly overweight (Plumb).” The officer replied: “I would say that’s rather subjective.”
Ms Wass said: “Really?” The officer continued: “I can see he’s significantly overweight, by whose terms?”
Ms Wass asked: “Knowing what he looked like and the state of his dimensions, did that plan – or what was said about that plan: jumping the outer wall – cause you to re-evaluate the credibility of this plan?” The officer replied: “No, it did not.”
The defence barrister described Gavin Plumb as “enormous”, saying he was “in the region of 30 stone”. She continued: “His size and girth affected his mobility to an extent.”
Detective Constable William Belsham said there was “not a spring in his (Plumb’s) step but he could walk fine from the video I’ve seen”.
Plumb shared photos of Holly Willoughby’s ‘address’, court hears
(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
The police officer told jurors that Plumb had shared “what appeared to be the address” of Holly with him online. Questioned by prosecutor Alison Morgan KC, he said the defendant gave “information about the vehicle used by Ms Willoughby”.
He said Plumb sent him a photo of the “abduction kit”, saying: “At that point in the conversation it was quite alarming.” He also claimed Plumb sent him a photo of bottles of chloroform.
(Image: PA)
The police officer told the court he was “seeking to figure out where Mr Plumb was located, where he lived”. He alleged Plumb sent him a screenshot of a Google map showing the route from Plumb’s home address to Willoughby’s.
The court heard that an online post by Plumb claimed he had a “load of info” on Holly Willoughby including “when she does and doesn’t have security and that she doesn’t have CCTV at home”.
The trial continues.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
