LONDON – A man was sentenced to life in prison on Friday for conspiring to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby, one of Britain’s best-known television personalities.
At the sentencing hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court, about 40 miles east of London, Judge Edward Murray told Gavin Plumb, 37, that he would have to serve a minimum sentence of 16 years before he would be eligible for parole.
Plumb was found guilty by a jury last week after an eight-day trial.
“Over a number of years you pursued an unhealthy sexual obsession with Holly Willoughby which led you to plan during that period to kidnap, rape and murder her,” the judge said. as part of his plan.”
Plumb’s kidnapping plans, detailed in detail in an online chat group, involved attempting to “ambush” Willoughby at his family home. He had even discussed taking time off work to organize the attack.
The judge said Plumb’s plans were so “horrific, shocking and detailed” that they were not shared in open court, although the jury heard them.
They were, he added, “particularly sadistic, brutal and degrading” and he had no doubt that the plans were “considerably more than a fantasy”.
Plumb, who has previous convictions for attempted kidnapping, argued in his defense that his detailed plan was just online talk and fantasy.
Although Willoughby’s impact statement was not released, the judge said it was clear that Plumb’s plot had a “catastrophic and “life-changing” impact on the TV personality, both privately and professionally.
Willoughby, 43, has been one of the UK’s most high-profile television personalities for years. Shortly after Plumb’s arrest, she stepped down after 14 years as host of “This Morning,” an ITV magazine show that mixes celebrity interviews and entertainment news with discussions of current affairs. She returned to co-host the channel’s “Dancing on Ice” earlier this year.
Plumb was captured after an undercover US police officer infiltrated an online group called “Abduct Lovers” and became so concerned about Plumb’s posts that the evidence was passed on to the FBI.
Plumb told the officer, who used the alias David Nelson, that she was “definitely serious” about her plot to kidnap Willoughby, leaving the officer with the impression there was an “imminent threat” against her.
US authorities, in turn, contacted their counterparts in the UK, and when Essex Police officers raided Plumb’s north London flat, they found bottles of chloroform and a “kidnapping kit” complete with cable ties.
When he was arrested and the officers told him the charges concerned Willoughby, the defendant told them, “I’m not going to lie, she’s a fantasy of mine.”
Willoughby waived his right to anonymity in connection with the charge against Plumb of aiding or abetting rape. In the United Kingdom, alleged victims of sexual crimes or targets of sexual crime conspiracies are entitled to automatic anonymity for life from the moment an allegation is made by them or anyone else.
Detective Chief Inspector Greg Wood of Essex Police, the senior investigating officer, said the case “brought to light misogyny and violence against women and girls” and paid tribute to Willoughby and others
“It demonstrated that we all have a lot to do to eliminate him from society,” he said outside court after the sentencing. “It cannot be right that men like Gavin Plumb can participate in online forums where they freely express their hatred towards women and girls and conspire to cause them harm. We need everyone to stand up and denounce misogyny and denounce those who cause violence against women and girls.”
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