Holly Willoughby case latest: Security guard Gavin Plumb on trial for 'plotting to kidnap, rape and kill' presenter (2024)

Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC has concluded her opening remarks to the jury.

The trial has now been adjourned until 10.30am tomorrow, when the evidence in the case will start to be heard.

Scroll back through our live page to catch up on what we heard in court today - and you can read our home affairs reporter Henry Vaughan's summary of the day here:

Two sealed bottles of chloroform along with a "kidnap kit" including ropes, cable ties and handcuffs were found at Gavin Plumb's home in Harlow, Essex, the court hears.

Police also found "a list of celebrities" in his bedside drawer, along with folded-up images of famous people, including Holly Willoughby, on top of his wardrobe.

The jury is told he never met the television presenter, who won't be giving evidence during the trial.

Plumb's plans "would have involved catastrophic violence against her" if they were not disrupted, says prosecutor Alison Morgan KC.

She says there "can be no sensible doubt" that the defendant was obsessed with Willoughby but this went beyond "mere fantasy".

She tells jurors he spent hours planning an attack on her that would involve "violence, rape and... ultimately murder."

Although they may think it is unlikely to have been successful, she says, it doesn't mean that it was not real.

Gavin Plumb believed an accomplice he met online - who was in fact an undercover police officer - was planning to come to the UK to help carry out the plot after he showed him a fake ID and plane ticket, the court hears.

When asked to clarify the plan, Plumb told the officer in a message: "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."

He also described "getting rid of the body" and using bleach and knives, the jury is told.

Plumb also told of his previous convictions, saying he served 16 months in prison for false imprisonment of two 16-year-old girls and a suspended sentence for trying to abduct two air hostesses on a train.

The officer alerted the FBI and the Metropolitan Police and officers from Essex Police arrested Plumb on 4 October last year.

The court hears he was "shocked" and when told he was being held over a conspiracy to kidnap Holly Willoughby, Plumb said: "I’m not gonna lie. She is a fantasy of mine."

More than 10,000 images of her were found on his mobile phone, jurors are told.

Jurors are hearing more details of the online chats between Gavin Plumb and the undercover police officer referred to as David Nelson.

Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC says both asked questions to work out if the other was serious and Plumb shared details of her address including street view images and described his plan for a "night home invasion".

She says his plan wasn't just to abduct and rape her, but also to kill her.

When the officer asks if she's going to be returned, Plumb says: "Nope," the court hears.

When asked if he was serious, Plumb shared a video, which is played in court, showing "ankle shackles, ball gag, three lots of rope, metal cable ties, two sets of handcuffs".

In other messages, he describes the plan as "a home invasion so we'll use the chloroform on her and her husband. Tie both up. Take her. Leave him then it's take to where she's being kept and enjoy her".

When asked what will happen at the end, Plumb says "slit her throat, clear her out and dispose of it," the jury is told.

The court hears how Gavin Plumb considered a plan to take Holly Willoughby to an abandoned building.

In a voice note from June last year, he is heard to say: "Thought I’d give you an update, I’ve had a member of the Holly group reach out to me.

"He knows the location of an abandoned building and he's up for it big time. Erm he's gonna let me know when he can get time off work and then we’re off mate. We’re gonna go and do stakeout and bang job done."

But the court hears that after the plans didn't move forward in the way he'd hoped, he began unwittingly talking to a US undercover police officer referred to as David Nelson in October last year.

The officer, from the Owatonna Police Department, in Minnesota, was monitoring an online group called "Abduct lovers" involving chats about kidnap, torture and murder.

Calling himself "BigBear", Plumb posted pictures of Holly Willoughby and said he had a "load of info" on her, including when she has security and "what time she gets up in the morning", the court hears.

The officer was concerned by the messages and started directly messaging Plumb, the court hears.

The court is hearing more detail of Gavin Plumb's alleged plans to kidnap Holly Willoughby, including working out how he could enter her home, of which he had pictures from online.

Plumb discussed the layout of Willoughby’s home, suggested hiding a ladder near by, and using "metal ties" to tie up her husband, the television producer Dan Baldwin, and stuffing socks into his mouth, while she would be restrained with handcuffs, the jury hears.

He also said her desire to stop them going near her children would be extra reason for her to be "obedient", prosecutor Alison Morgan KC says.

In voice notes played in court, Plumb is heard talking about using chloroform on the couple so that "they can be easily restrained".

He says he wants to "pick outfits of hers we like" and take her and the clothes, making Willoughby "make a video saying she came with us under her own free will" and she's "fully consenting".

Two bottles of what purported to be chloroform was later found at his home and he also shared pictures of fake but realistic looking guns, the court hears.

The court is again hearing how Gavin Plumb bought metal cable ties on Amazon in April 2022.

In online chats, he talked about "staking out" Holly Willoughby himself, taking her to "my place" and said that she would be blindfolded, the jury is told.

He later discussed trying to get on to a tour of the ITV studios to get close to her or using his training as a security guard to get a job protecting her.

He also shared a picture of an empty space or "dungeon" or that he said was "big enough for a bed", while his online associate Marc said her "screams could not be heard for miles", says prosecutor Alison Morgan KC.

Welcome back to our live coverage of the trial of Gavin Plumb, who is accused of plotting to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby. He denies the charges.

Alison Morgan KC will continue opening the prosecution case to the jury, who are now back in court, this afternoon.

Plumb is sat back in the dock, wearing a light grey sweater and dark tracksuit bottoms.

The court has risen for the lunch break and will resume at around 2pm when Alison Morgan KC will continue opening the case to the jury.

We'll be back with live updates then.

Gavin Plumb's plan to attack Holly Willoughby and other celebrities may have been "somewhat unrealistic", says prosecutor Alison Morgan KC.

But that doesn't mean he didn't intend what he was planning with his online associate "Marc", who was not based in the UK, she says.

The pair discussed whether they might be treated better in a prison in the UK or Ireland, the court hears.

Jurors are told Plumb said he had "wanted this for years" and that he would be "living out my ultimate fantasy", telling Marc a lane next to Willoughby's house would be a "good ambush point" and he was going to take time off work as a security guard to carry out the attack.

They shared "deep fake" p*rnographic images of Willoughby and Plumb suggested those involved, which was up to five people, in the alleged planned attack would be masked, Ms Morgan says.

When he was arrested, an examination of his phone showed he was a member of groups with a "preoccupation with abduction and kidnapping", she continues.

Plumb also ordered four packets of 100 "heavy duty" metal cable ties, the court hears.