Despite living in Essex and targeting a British TV presenter, the sexual deviant who planned to kidnap Holly Willoughby was brought down by an American police officer.
Gavin Plumb first revealed his intention to target Ms Willoughby with a post on a forum called ‘Abduct Lovers’, which was being monitored by an undercover police officer based in Minnesota.
The policeman, who uses the pseudonym David Nelson, had never heard of the TV presenter but felt sufficiently concerned about her safety that he contacted Plumb to find out more about his plans.
Mr Nelson had been speaking with the security guard for just over a day before he police battered down his front door in Harlow and hauled him away in cuffs.
While the US-based officer’s real name will never be known to protect his safety and avoid jeapordising future investigations, his work was absolutely crucial to bringing Plumb to justice.
Gavin Plumb first revealed his intention to target Ms Willoughby with a post on a forum called ‘Abduct Lovers’. He is seen here being arrested by police on October 4
Plumb later gave no comment in a police interview
Mr Nelson told Chelmsford Crown Court that Abduct Lovers was a group on an encrypted messaging app called Kik where users discussed kidnap, rape, and murder.
The officer, who specialises in using social media to identify planned abductions, rapes and murders, said Plumb came to his attention on October 3 last year after posting four photos of Ms Willoughby, who he didn’t recognise at the time, with the words ‘the one in the public eye that I want’.
After contacting Plumb – who used the handle Big Bear – he used ‘open questions’ to establish the level of his intent and was told he had an ‘abduction kit’. He also received a photo of a bottle of chloroform, a powerful anaesthetic.
‘At that point in the conversation, it was quite alarming,’ he told jurors.
Mr Nelson also asked for details of the plot and was told: ‘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.’
Plumb added: ‘When we get board [sic] of her, then we get rid… Wash her in bleach and put her into a lake at night. Once she’s had her throat cut of course.’
Mr Nelson sent photos of a computer screen showing the purchase of a plane ticket and another with a fake ID to ‘gain trust’ with Plumb.
Three photos of Ms Willoughby in Plumb’s possession that were shown to the jury
Sasha Wass KC, defending, suggested it was ‘quite common’ for posts on the Abduct Lovers group to be ‘plainly fantasy’.
Mr Nelson, who appeared by videolink from the US, agreed ‘the bulk of conversations’ were mere fantasy but added: ‘None [was] as specific as this.’
Plumb’s posts were ‘enough to set off alarm bells’, he added.
Mr Nelson, from the Owatonna Police Department in Minnesota, said the kidnap, rape and murder plot would have been ‘carried out with or without my services’.
Asked if the fact the defendant was ‘significantly overweight’ would have affected the credibility of his plan to invade Ms Willoughby’s home before ‘jumping over a wall’ when leaving, he replied: ‘No, it did not.’
The officer said the Abduct Lovers group had come to his attention because of its name.
After seeing the public post from Plumb which said he had a ‘load of info’ on Ms Willoughby, he said it had caused him enough ‘concern’ to message him privately.
The undercover officer agreed that the defendant shared ‘what appeared to be the address’ of Ms Willoughby with him online.
The court heard that after his arrest, Plumb told police: ‘As I said, it’s totally taken me by surprise. I know what it’s about, I can tell you, I reckon, I know what it’s about.’
The trial has heard Plumb had ‘millions’ of photos of Ms Willoughby, who waived her right to anonymity for the trial, and other celebrities, including deep-fake porn images.
The defendant told one contact that he had ‘wanted this for years – I’m going to be living out my ultimate fantasy’.
Plumb assembled a ‘restraint kit’, which he filmed laid out on his bed
Plumb had previous convictions for attempted kidnap and false imprisonment relating to three incidents involving four women in 2006 and 2008.
As he was arrested at his home on October 4 for the plot against Ms Willoughby, Plumb initially told officers ‘what are you talking about’ and ‘please explain to me what the hell is going on’.
Told he was under arrest on suspicion of conspiracy to kidnap, he said ‘who?’ and was told it was Holly Willoughby.
The defendant asked ‘OK, where’s that from?’ and was told by an officer ‘that will be explained to you in custody’.
He later stated to officers: ‘I’m not gonna lie, she is a fantasy of mine.’
Plumb later gave no comment in a police interview.