Man jailed for life over plot to kidnap Holly Willoughby

A security guard has been sentenced to life in prison for plotting to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby.

Gavin Plumb had become fixated on the former This Morning host over several years and put together a kit for the abduction, including handcuffs and metal cable ties. He was unanimously convicted of soliciting murder and inciting rape and kidnap at Chelmsford Crown Court on July 4^th, and was sentenced at the same court today.

Sentencing the 37-year-old, Mr Justice Edward Murray told him:

“There is no doubt that if you had genuinely found one or more accomplices who were seriously interested in and had been willing to join you in carrying your plan through then you would have put this plan into action.”

Plumb, who went by the username Big Bear to engage in online conversations about his plan, was caught when a supposed accomplice, known as David Nelson, was revealed to be an undercover officer from the Owatonna Police Department in Minnesota, USA.

When he was arrested on 4 October last year and officers told him that the allegations concerned the presenter, he said: “I’m not gonna lie, she is a fantasy of mine.”

Credit: Essex Police

Throughout the trial, the jury was presented with a detailed document outlining the sequence of events, revealing Plumb’s disturbing messages to others regarding his intentions towards the Dancing On Ice presenter.

His plans involved attempting to “ambush” Willoughby at her family home before taking her to a “dungeon” type room where he would rape her before dumping her body into a lake.

The judge sentenced the defendant to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 16 years, minus the 280 days he had spent on remand – taking the total to a minimum jail term of 15 years and 85 days.