Man who ‘plotted to kidnap, rape & murder Holly Willoughby tried to snatch two women from train & pulled knife on teens’
A SECURITY guard accused of plotting to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby tried to snatch two women from a train and pulled a knife on teen girls, a court heard.
Gavin Plumb, 37, passed one terrified victim a note telling her he had a gun and that he would shoot “you and myself and everyone else” if she did not follow him off the train, it was said.
He wrote: “I have got a gun. All you have to do is keep quiet. Do what I say. So just stand up and get off at the next stop with me. Don’t cry or make a sound.
“Don’t stop me from touching you because I won’t hurt you. If you do all of this, no-one will get hurt but if you don’t I am going to shoot you and myself and everyone else.”
Two days later – armed with an imitation firearm and rope – he pretended to be a police officer to lure a second woman off a train, jurors were told.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard this was before Plumb allegedly tried to abduct Holly, 43, who has waived her anonymity and can be named.
Plumb also pulled a knife on two 16-year-old girls while working in Woolworths and told them: “Get to the back of the storeroom”, jurors were told.
The court heard he then took out a rope and tape and bound one of the girls while the other managed to flee and raise the alarm.
The previous kidnap attempts took place in 2006 and 2008 and were “real offences committed against real women”, prosecutor Alison Morgan KC said.
She added: “When you consider the discussions about Holly Willoughby and what this defendant planned to do to her, you will do so in the context of those earlier offences.
“They tell you that this defendant knew what it would take to terrify and overpower a woman.
“He was also someone who had chosen to do this for real, not just as a fantasy.”
Jurors heard Plumb spent years fixating on the ex-This Morning star before he hatched the “graphic and sexually motivated” scheme.
The court was told Plumb was “obsessed” with Holly and had gathered a cache of photos of the star.
He also tracked her movements and activities using social media and had been planning the attack for “some time”, Ms Morgan said.
Plumb allegedly planned to snatch Holly from her family home and take her to a location where he would rape then kill her.
The court heard Plumb had purchased a “restraint kit” that he would use to “stupefy and tie her up”.
He allegedly detailed his plot in web chats to an undercover police officer using the alias David Nelson, who was based in the US.
Plumb is also accused of exchanging messages with someone called “Marc” – including sharing pictures of Holly’s home and discussing attacking her in a “home invasion”.
The jury were told they talked about her sister and other celebs and Plumb mentioned “items to control” Holly.
Ms Morgan said: “It was not just the ramblings of a fantasist.
“The defendant had carefully planned what he would do and how he would do it, purchasing items that would assist him in carrying out the attack.”
The prosecutor said it is likely Plumb may suggest it was “all a fantasy” but jurors must decide if his exchanges were just talk or if the “dark depravity” suggests he meant what he said.
Plumb allegedly started plotting the horror on December 27, 2021, but his plan was foiled on October 5 last year, the court was told.
Holly was due to go on air to present This Morning but was told of Plumb’s arrest just moments before.
The mum-of-three, 43, announced later that month she was stepping down from the show after 14 years.
She said in a social media post at the time that she felt: “I have to make this decision for me and my family.”
Holly has since hosted Dancing on Ice and is taking part in a Netflix show with Bear Grylls.
Plumb denies the charges. The trial continues.