Moment topless security guard tells cops ‘Holly Willoughby is a fantasy of mine’ as he’s arrested over ‘kidnap plot’
Security guard told court he developed a 'celebrity crush' on star after his weight rendered him housebound
THIS is the moment a topless security guard was arrested over an alleged plot to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby.
Gavin Plumb, 37, told cops the TV star was a “fantasy of mine” when they burst into his Essex home after the alleged plan was foiled.
The security guard also demanded “what are you talking about?” and asked officers “what the hell was going on”.
Police then told topless Plumb he is being arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to kidnap – causing him to respond: “Who?”
The bodycam footage of Plumb, who was 30 stone at the time of his arrest, was shown to jurors at Chelmsford Crown Court today.
It came as he gave evidence for the first time – revealing he had a “celebrity crush” on Holly which developed when he was made housebound by his weight so watched a lot of daytime TV.
He was also asked about his previous offences, which included trying to kidnap two women from a train.
Plumb 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.
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.
This was before Plumb allegedly tried to abduct Holly, 43, who has waived her anonymity, so he could rape then murder her.
Giving evidence today, the security guard was asked why the two women he targeted were cabin crew workers.
Plumb, who also pulled a knife on two teen girls, replied: “I had a stewardess fantasy back then.
“I was on the train and it was empty and that person was the first person I approached.”
He told the court he only attempted to kidnap the women as he was in a “toxic relationship” and wanted out.
The security guard, who was given a suspended sentence over the attempts, claimed he was “disgusted” by his previous behaviour.
Plumb was also asked about the horror while working in Woolworths when he pulled a box-cutting knife on the two 16-year-old girls and told them: “Get to the back of the storeroom”.
He then took out a rope and tape and bound one of the girls while the other managed to flee and raise the alarm, jurors heard.
When asked what was on his mind as the girls were “screaming and shouting”, he responded: “I just needed a way out of the relationship (with his ex-partner), knowing it worked the first time.
“I thought I would try something really big again to get away from the relationship.”
He said when he was released from jail in 2010 for the Woolworths kidnap attempt, he spent “99.9 per cent” of his time online.
His weight ballooned to 35 stone and Plumb, who has to sit during his evidence due to his size, became housebound.
He spent his time going on “fantasy” chatrooms where he’d speak with others about having sex with “people we knew, people we didn’t know”.
Plumb told jurors “it was wholesome chat, clean chat, it was nowhere like as dark as it is in the sequence of events” evidence.
Asked if Holly was on his radar at the time, he responded: “[She] would have been – I was at home all the time watching daytime telly”.
He said he would think about his “celebrity crush” around “four, five, six times” a day.
Asked by defence barrister Sasha Wass KC how serious it was, Plumb responded: “It was … I don’t quite know how to explain it.”
The court was told Plumb spent years fixating on the former This Morning star – tracking her movements and activities for “some time”.
He allegedly considered booking a tour to the ITV studios that would involve meeting presenters.
In voice notes played to the court, he told his accomplice Marc he was looking for a place to “hold” Holly after ambushing her at her family home.
He also described how he was planning to use chloroform on Holly and her husband Dan Baldwin while striking in the dead of night.
Plumb told jurors today these conversations are “massively regrettable” but claimed he was just talking about the “fantasy of setting up an abduction”.
And he agreed with his barrister Ms Wass that his chats about Holly “degraded her” as she admitted he is “heartbroken, disgusted and shocked” they have come out.
I’m not gonna lie, she is a fantasy of mine.
Gavin Plumb when he was arrested
Plumb also discussed the alleged plot with an undercover cop known as David Nelson after they met on a forum called Abduct Lovers.
He told the officer about his “restraint kit” and sent over photos of chloroform he had bought, it is said.
In his evidence, Plumb claimed he bought the potent chemical as a “cleaning product” as he had a “large stain” by the fridge.
Nelson yesterday told the court he believed there was a “credible plan” to kidnap Holly after the security guard claimed he had a “load of info” on the star.
This included details on her security arrangements, sending Nelson the star’s address and providing information about her car, it was said.
The shopping centre security guard was arrested on October 4 last year after Nelson told the FBI and Met Police about the alleged plot.
‘Kidnap plot foiled’
Jurors heard he was holding a mobile at the time, which he refused to hand over a pin for as officers didn’t “need to know that now”.
Having heard that police would search his house, Plumb allegedly said: “I mean based on what you’ve said I can pretty much guess what you’re looking for.”
He later added: “As I said, it’s totally taken me by surprise. I know what it’s about, I can tell you, I reckon, I, I know what it’s about.”
Plumb then answered no comment to all questions in two police interviews after he was taken into custody.
His arrest came just moments before Holly was due to go on air to present This Morning.
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.”
Plumb denies soliciting murder, incitement to kidnap and incitement to rape between December 2021 and October last year.
