Gavin Plumb: Man who plotted to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby loses appeal against prison sentence
A security guard who planned to kidnap, rape and murder TV presenter Holly Willoughby has lost a Court of Appeal appeal against his sentence.
Gavin Plumb was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 16 years in July last year after being unanimously convicted of inciting murder and encouraging or assisting others to rape and kidnap. This Morning presenter.
The 38-year-old’s kidnap plans involved “ambush” Miss Willoughby at her parents’ home; Plumb told the others that he would take the presenter to another location, which he suggested would be a “dungeon” type room.
Sentencing him, Mr Justice Murray said Plumb had an “unhealthy sexual obsession” with Ms Willoughby, who waived her right to anonymity in the case, and that some of Plumb’s schemes were “particularly sadistic, cruel and degrading”.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Plumb’s lawyers said his sentence was “manifestly excessive” and should be reduced.
The Crown Prosecution Service opposed the bid to appeal, with her lawyers telling the court in London that the crime had “life-changing consequences” for Ms Willoughby.
Dismissing the appeal, Judge Edis said he, along with Mr Justice Spencer and Mr Justice Norton, concluded that it was “ultimately unpersuasive”.
Plumb, who adopted the username Big Bear to chat with others online about his plot, appeared to have formulated his fantasy by Googling the phrase “how to meet people planning to kidnap celebrities” as early as 2011.
He told the others he would then take the presenter to another location, which he suggested would be a “dungeon” type room, and the judge said he checked out an abandoned stud farm with cells to “hold” Miss Willoughby.
His messages also showed that he planned to rape her there before killing her and then placing her “in a lake at night”.
Plumb was captured after a US undercover police officer from the Owatonna Police Department in the US state of Minnesota infiltrated an online group called Abduct Lovers.
He told the officer, who used the alias David Nelson, that he was “absolutely serious” about his plan to kidnap Miss Willoughby, leaving the officer with the impression that there was an “imminent threat” to him.
The officer was so concerned about Plumb’s posts that evidence was forwarded to the FBI, and US law enforcement subsequently contacted police in the UK.
Essex Police later raided his flat in Harlow and found a “kidnap kit” complete with chloroform bottles and cable ties.
When he was arrested on October 4, 2023, and officers told him the allegations related to Miss Willoughby, Plumb told them: “I’m not going to lie, she’s a fantasy of mine.”
In his defense at the hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court, Plumb claimed his plans were just online chatting and fantasy, but Mr Justice Murray said he had “no doubt this was much more than a fantasy to you”.
After the jury announced their verdict, Ms Willoughby said in a statement: “As women, we should not be allowed to feel unsafe in our daily lives and in our own homes.”
At the sentencing hearing, prosecutor Alison Morgan KC said the crimes had a “catastrophic effect” on Ms Willoughby, adding: “It was impossible to describe the extent of shock and fear this crime caused.”
On Tuesday, Sasha Wass KC, for Plumb, said the sentence was “too long and could have been significantly reduced” and “could not reflect the current mitigation”.
He continued that there was “no suggestion of any lasting psychological harm” to Ms Willoughby.
Plumb did not attend the hearing in person or remotely.
Ms Morgan, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said the harm Plumb intended was “of the highest order”.
He said: “What could the judge have done but conclude that the risk posed by this applicant because of his crimes and previous convictions could not be met by anything other than a life sentence?”
