Security guard ‘posed a direct menace to Holly Willoughby’
A security guard posed an ‘imminent threat’ to Holly Willoughby and his posts to an ‘Abduct Lovers’ forum ‘set off alarm bells’, an undercover police officer told a court today.
Gavin Plumb, 37, allegedly discussed his plans to kidnap, rape and murder the TV presenter with the US-based policeman, known only by his online pseudonym David Nelson.
Giving evidence this morning, the officer said he first came across Plumb on a Kik chat group called Abduct Lovers, where he is said to have posted four photos of the then This Morning presenter with the text ‘The one in the public eye that I want.’
After the officer made contact with him about the photos, the defendant allegedly told Mr Nelson: ‘I have a s***load of information on her. I know when she does and doesn’t have security and doesn’t have CCTV at home. When she gets up in the morning.’
The officer told Chelmsford Crown Court: ‘I felt there was an imminent threat to that individual at that time.’
Gavin Plumb is alleged to have sent footage of himself stating the date and saying ‘Holly’ to an undercover US police officer
The 37-year-old kept hundreds of photos of Ms Willoughby on his phone, three of which were shown to the jury
He described Plumb’s posts as ‘not typical’, saying: ‘There are messages on Abduct Lovers that are more like fantasy and it’s rare for an individual to post information of this type.’
Mr Nelson said that up to 50 individuals could be in the Abduct Lovers group on the Kik chat group at any time.
The officer, who is based in Minnesota, handles online investigations across various social media applications and assumes a fake identity.
His job is to look for individuals ‘who are scheming any types of abduction or to carry out murder’.
Mr Nelson said Plumb – who was using the handle Big Bear – told him about his kidnap kit and, when asked about the chloroform he claimed to have, he sent an image.
The officer sent a photo of a computer screen indicating he was purchasing a plane ticket to the UK for a few days later.
He said: ‘The purpose of sending him a flight itinerary was showing I was going to accompany him in this act.’
The officer also sent a fake identity card to help the person he was talking to ‘gain trust’ in him.
A short way into the conversation, which took place on October 3 last year, the officer asked: ‘I don’t want to ask too much but I’m coming out there, can you send me something so I know you’re real.’
Plumb allegedly responded by sending a selfie but because it could have come from a stock photo the officer asked for live video.
The defendant is said to have sent footage of himself stating the date and saying ‘Holly’.
Plumb allegedly sent images of another female ‘known to live near’ him that he said they could ‘practice on’.
Mr Nelson said by this point he was already ‘speaking to [other] law enforcement officers based domestically in the US’ about the exchange.
He began asking about details of the plan, telling jurors: ‘The purpose of asking him to run through his plan was to see what he wanted to do.
‘Whether he wanted to conduct this operation towards Ms Willoughby.’
Plumb allegedly told him: ‘So we’ll jump the outer wall break in chloroform both her and her husband tie both up with zip ties and gag both take her out of the house and take her out in her car dump it and get rid of her phone etc and anything she can be tracked with.’
Mr Nelson asked where she would be taken to and was told: ‘My place to begin with as I’ve got CCTV and I can see who is coming and going then move her to an abandoned building when we get a suitable one.’
During the exchange, the officer asked: ‘How will this all end??’
Plumb allegedly responded: ‘When we get hold of her then we get rid. Maybe get another one later on.’
Gavin Plumb, 37, (pictured in a selfie) allegedly discussed his plans to kidnap, rape and murder the TV presenter with the US-based policeman
Jurors heard that Plumb assembled a ‘restraint kit’, which he filmed laid out on his bed
Asked how he planned to get rid of her, Plumb is said to have told him: ‘Wash her in bleach and put her into a lake at night. Once she’s had her throat cut of course.’
Mr Nelson told the court a conference was held with FBI colleagues and Metropolitan Police representatives the following morning.
Sasha Wass KC, defending, suggested it was ‘quite common’ for people’s posts on the Abduct Lover group to be ‘plainly fantasy’.
Mr Nelson agreed ‘the bulk of conversations’ were mere fantasy but added: ‘But none as specific as this.’
He continued Plumb’s alleged posts were ‘enough to set off alarm bells’.
The 37-year-old kept hundreds of photos of Ms Willoughby on his phone, three of which were shown to the jury.
Yesterday, voice notes were played to Chelmsford Crown Court where Plumb can be heard describing the alleged plot.
He tells his associate Marc that he was looking for a place to ‘hold’ Holly after ambushing her at her London home.
He adds: ‘Nothing’s confirmed yet mate. Don’t celebrate too early but it looks like… [we’re] back on track for once.
‘Obviously, you’ll find out when everything is planned. Yeah we’ll go from there.’
Plumb says he is planning to break into Ms Willoughby’s family home late at night, according to the voice notes heard by jurors.
He also says how he is planning to use chloroform on Holly and her husband Dan Baldwin while striking in the dead of night.
Plumb adds: ‘Plan of action, basically, we are going to hit it at night – less traffic on the road. Chloroform both of them making them easier to restrain. Pick out outfits of hers we like, take her and the outfits with us and then we’re gone.
‘We are then going to force her to make a video saying she came with us under her own free will and she’s fully consenting to everything we do to her so that covers us.’
In another voice note sent over WhatsApp, Plumb tells Marc he is ‘more than welcome to be part of it’ as the plan was ‘going down’.
Plumb suggests he was looking for somewhere to ‘hold’ the star but ‘my place might be better cos there’s cameras everywhere’.
He adds: ‘The chloroform bit is going to be fun, picking the outfits is going to be fun. So if you can get to the UK, to England that’ll be awesome because then you can be part of it.’
Jurors heard that Plumb assembled a ‘restraint kit’, which he filmed laid out on his bed.
Hand and ankle shackles, a ball gag, cat o’nine tails, metal cable ties and rope were among the items said to have been put together by the 37-year-old.
Jurors were told Plumb communicated with a number of people online about Ms Willoughby, with one man, who turned out to be an undercover police officer, being told of his plans to ‘put her into a lake at night’ when he had finished raping her.
It is claimed the father-of-one told a man called Marc: ‘We’ve got somewhere in the country to keep her… a stud farm that’s abandoned. It’s got cells.’
Earlier in the trial the jury heard Plumb, of Harlow, Essex, discussing a ‘dungeon-style room’ big enough for a bed where the 43-year-old presenter would be held captive.
An artist’s drawing of Plumb at Chelmsford Crown Court at the start of his trial on Monday
To another man, he allegedly said the things he planned to do to the former This Morning host would put him on ‘death row’.
On the third day of his trial yesterday, it was also claimed he sent a photo of a bottle of chloroform he bought to one of his online contacts, exclaiming: ‘Look what I came home to on my doorstep.’
Plumb, the prosecution say, was planning a ‘home invasion’ at Ms Willoughby’s London home with accomplices he met on the web.
As part of his online chats, the defendant sent a potential accomplice a video of restraint ‘kit’ items laid out on a bed, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.
In a message from Plumb read to the court yesterday, he outlined the masked raid, saying: ‘We break in when they are in bed, we hold both at a weapon point, tell both to roll over on there [sic] fronts with there [sic] hands behind their backs. With Dan we use the metal cable ties, with Holly we’ll use the handcuffs etc…’
He discussed getting into close proximity with Ms Willoughby, the court heard, saying: ‘I’m calling the [ITV] studio tours tomorrow to see if they are still available and if you meet presenters.’
He also claimed: ‘I’ve passed my SIA (Security Industry Authority) licence so might try to use it to be her security.’
Plumb – who has previous convictions for the attempted kidnap and false imprisonment of four women in three incidents – allegedly had ‘highly sexualised’ conversations with his online contacts about Ms Willoughby and other celebrities and had ‘millions’ of saved images, many deep fake porn.
Plumb is accused of planning to rape Ms Willoughby before murdering her and then disposing her body in a lake
In one chat about the Dancing on Ice presenter, he wrote: ‘She’s wearing things like this for a reason which is to tease us guys – she’s getting punishment for all the teasing.’
Messaging each other a few days after Ms Willougby’s co-host Phillip Schofield left This Morning in May last year in controversial circumstances, Plumb told Marc: ‘I’m so tempted to message Phil and say to him, ‘Look do you wanna get payback?’
Plumb was arrested on October 4 last year, a day after he struck up an online relationship with the man who was actually an undercover police officer based in the US.
Ms Willoughby was told of the alleged plot just before going on air the next day and someone stood in for her. She quit the show days later.
The court heard the officer asked Plumb why he had posted a photo of Ms Willoughby in an ‘abduct lovers’ group and was told: ‘Why do you think?’
The defendant added he was ‘definitely’ looking for help and wanted to go ahead with the plan ‘as soon as – been planning for about two and a half years’.
Plumb denies soliciting murder, incitement to kidnap and incitement to rape between December 2021 and December last year.
The trial continues.
