This article incorporates discussions of violence and sexual assault.
A person plotted to kidnap, rape and homicide TV character Holly Willoughby, a court docket has heard.
In October 2023, it was first reported by The Sun that the previous This Morning host was “under police guard” after “sinister” messages have been discovered on a person’s telephone reportedly threatening to “seriously harm” the daytime TV presenter.
He was later charged with soliciting to commit homicide and incitement to commit kidnap, with the trial getting underway on Monday at Chelmsford Crown Court.
Prosecution Alison Morgan KC mentioned that Gavin Plumb, a safety guard from Harlow in Essex, had a critical and “real intention” to kidnap the daytime star from her house and take her to “a location where she would be raped repeatedly”, earlier than murdering her.
Plumb has denied accusations of soliciting homicide, inciting kidnap and inciting rape made in opposition to him.
“It was not just the ramblings of a fantasist; the defendant had carefully planned what he would do,” Morgan mentioned.
The prosecution added that Plumb’s alleged plans solely got here to mild after he shared them with an undercover police officer primarily based within the US, with whom he’d been talking on-line.
Morgan instructed the court docket: “The defendant explained his plans to kidnap, rape and murder the celebrity Holly Willoughby. The defendant set out his plans and sought to encourage the other person to commit those offences with him.
“The defendant’s plans as to what he would do to Holly Willoughby were graphic and were obviously sexually motivated. They were real to him, members of the jury, and were based on an obsession with Holly Willoughby that had developed over a number of years.”
Joe Maher by way of Getty Images
“What the defendant did not know then, was that the person that he was communicating with online was an undercover police officer based in the USA and not, in fact, a like-minded abductor,” she added.
“The defendant’s planning of the offences was then interrupted and he was arrested by the police.”
Plumb apparently described his plan as his “ultimate fantasy”, claiming: “I’m now at the point that fantasy isn’t enough anymore. I want the real thing.”
BBC News has reported that the trial is anticipated to proceed for the following two weeks.
When particulars of the kidnap plot have been first made public, it was reported that Holly was “under police guard at her home”.
She subsequently made the choice to step down from This Morning after 14 years on the helm, and took an prolonged break from the media highlight.
Willoughby made her return to TV in January when she and new co-host Stephen Mulhern offered the newest sequence of Dancing On Ice.
Help and assist:
- Rape Crisis providers for ladies and ladies who’ve been raped or have skilled sexual violence – 0808 802 9999
- Survivors UK gives assist for males and boys – 0203 598 3898
