A British court convicted a Briton Thursday of plotting to kidnap, rape and murder a famous British television presenter after an American undercover police officer exposed the suspect’s plot, according to reports.
Gavin Plumb, 37, of Harlow, Essex, was convicted in an eight-day trial at Chelmsford Crown Court that considered incriminating evidence of Plumb’s plot to fulfill his fantasy against former ITV star Holly Willoughby, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported.
The U.S. undercover officer who discovered Plumb’s plot reportedly went by the pseudonym David Nelson. He discovered the plot in an online group “Abduct Lovers” Oct. 3, 2023, and reported it to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the report revealed.
Essex Police, acting on the FBI’s tip, raided Plumb’s home Oct. 4 and arrested him, the Daily Mail reported.
Nelson — a specialist in identifying planned abductions, rapes and murders online from Minnesota’s Owatonna Police Department — told the court via videolink that Plumb posted four photos of Willoughby on the “Abduct Lovers” group on the encrypted messaging app Kik, the Daily Mail reported. Plumb captioned the photos “The one in the public eye that I want,” Nelson reportedly added.
Plumb’s posts were “enough to set off alarm bells,” Nelson reportedly said.
Nelson reportedly offered to help Plumb carry out the plan, writing to the suspect, “Alright I’ll bite. Who’s the hottie with the lazy eye?”
“She’s in the public eye but doesn’t have her own security and doesn’t have CCTV at her house,” Plumb, using the user name Big Bear, reportedly replied.
“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,” Plumb reportedly told Nelson.
Plumb also reportedly planned to sexually torture Willoughby in an abandoned stud farm.
“When we get board [sic] of her, then we get rid… Wash her in bleach and put her into a lake at night. Once she’s had her throat cut of course,” Plumb reportedly added.
Nelson then reportedly sent Plumb images of an airplane ticket and a fake photo ID.
Plumb also reportedly plotted to make Willoughby confess that she was with the conspirators “of her own free will and she’s fully consenting to everything we do to her so that covers us.” (RELATED: ‘Sinister’: Kidnapping And Death Threats Against Holly Willoughby Force Her Off Air)
Sasha Wass, Plumb’s attorney, implied that it was “quite common” for the Abduct Lovers members’ posts to be “plainly fantasy,” according to the Daily Mail.
However, Prosecutor Nicola Rice described Plumb’s plan as “chilling,” adding that Plumb was a “dangerous man who plotted unspeakable violence against one of the nation’s most familiar faces” while trying to “pass himself off as a harmless fantasist,” the BBC reported.
Plumb was previously twice convicted and sentenced — first for trying to force two separate air hostesses to get off a train within three days in Aug. 2006 because of his “stewardess fantasy,” and second for tying up two 16-year-old girls and forcing them into a shop’s store, the BBC revealed.
Willoughby terminated her 14-year stint on ITV’s This Morning show Oct. 2023 after becoming aware of Plumb’s plot and received 24-hour police protection. “I will forever be grateful to the undercover police officer who understood the imminent threat, and to the Metropolitan and Essex police forces for their swift response,” she reportedly said.
Plumb reportedly wept in the dock on hearing he would be sentenced Jul. 12.
