The man accused of a plot to kidnap, rape and murder TV star Holly Willoughby was seen being arrested in newly released police footage.
Gavin Plumb, 37, is charged with and denies soliciting murder and incitement to kidnapping and rape last October in Harlow, Essex. He begun giving evidence at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday morning (June 28).
Footage from a police body cam was played to jurors in court on Friday showed Gavin topless as police officers came to the door of his flat to arrest him. The ex-Pizza Hut worker asked them: “Please explain to me what the hell is going on”.
In the body-worn footage taken October 4 last year, Plumb was told he was under arrest on suspicion of conspiracy to kidnap. He asked: “What are you talking about?”.
(Image: Essex Police Handout)
The defendant asked who they were talking about and told that it was Holly Willoughby. Plumb asked “Okay, where’s that from?” and was told: “That will be explained to you in custody”.
He was informed he did not have to say anything to them at this stage. He later told officers: “I’m not gonna lie, she is a fantasy of mine.”
(Image: Essex Police Handout)
Plumb told jurors he currently weighed around 24-and-a-half stone. The court heard that he weighed around 30 stone at the time he was taken into custody.
Plumb’s defence barrister Sasha Wass KC asked that a video of Plumb in police custody be played in court. She said: “I wanted the jury to see Mr Plumb was talking freely and to see the size he was then as opposed to now.”
(Image: Kieron McCarron/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
He said he was following legal advice when he later gave no comment in police interview. He also told jurors he was “disgusted” by his past behaviour when asked about his previous convictions for attempted kidnap and false imprisonment.
The defendant, who was dubbed “significantly overweight” by Ms Wass, previously told the court that he was unable to stand up. Asked by the judge if he could stand to give his evidence, he replied: “I won’t be able to.”
Plumb told the court that being overweight has negatively affected his mental health. He said: “From the age of 13 onwards my weight began to fluctuate.
“Being a 13-year- old you are supposed to be active, playing football and things like that that but I struggled with and it really badly affected my mental health. It was something that just constantly put me down personally, I was not able to go and do what my friends and brothers were doing.”
Asked if he had any girlfriends at that time he said: “I was regularly in the friend zone, nothing more.” His defence barrister Sasha Wass KC asked “Did you want more?”, to which Plumb replied: “With a couple, course.”
The trial continues.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
