Entertainment
Holly Willoughby kidnap plot suspect’s alarming Google search revealed in trial-Sabrina Barr-Entertainment – Metro
The court trial continues.
The court trial continues (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)
The alarming search history of the man accused of hatching a plot to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby has been revealed in a court trial.
Shopping centre security Gavin Plumb, from Harlow, Essex, is currently on trial at Chelmsford Crown Court, where details of his alleged abduction plan have been disclosed.
It was previously reported during the trial that Plumb, 37, had planned on taking former This Morning star Willoughby, 43, to a ‘dungeon’ where her ‘screams can’t be heard for miles’.
On Tuesday June 25, the jury at the court heard that Plumb searched ‘how to meet people who plan to kidnap celebrities’ on September 11 2011, more than 10 years before his alleged scheme to kidnap Willoughby emerged.
Detective Constable William Belsham of Essex Police has been sworn in as a witness at the trial today, with Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC going through a document of communications before the jurors.
DC Belsham said that when Plumb was arrested, Plumb’s phone was seized and left unlocked, so that the police officers could go through the device, filming themselves going through some messages using body-worn cameras.
An artist’s drawing of Gavin Plumb at Chelsmford Crown Court (Picture: Julia Quenzler/SWNS)
The detective constable explained that Plumb’s legal representatives later provided the PIN for the device, despite the suspect initially refusing to do so.
Plumb’s previous convictions included attempting to force two women to get off trains with him in 2006 under the threat of a gun.
Two years later, two 16-year-olds who were working at a shop in Essex were approached by Plumb, ordered to ‘get to the back of the stockroom’ and threatened with a knife.
‘He then took some rope and tape out of his pocket and he tied the hands of one of [the] girls. As he did so, the other girl managed to escape and she managed to raise the alarm,’ prosecutor Ms Morgan KC previously told the court.
At the trial on Tuesday, the court heard a WhatsApp message that Plumb wrote, where he detailed plans to track down Willoughby’s ‘movements’ and described a home invasion as a ‘better idea’.
The message, which was read to the jurors by Morgan KC, was sent in 2021 to a man called Marc, who police believe was based in Ireland.
‘That’s all I need to do got a rough idea her address so it’s find it track her movements for a simple place to strike but a home invasion is a better idea,’ it read.
Gavin Plumb’s charges in full
The court clerk said Plumb allegedly ‘solicited, encouraged, persuaded, endeavoured to persuade or proposed to another to murder Holly Willoughby’ between October 2 and 5, 2023
Count 2: Encouraging or assisting the commission of and offence believing it would be committed, contrary to section 45 of the Serious Crime Act 2007
The clerk added that between 27 December 2021 and October 5 2023, Plum allegedly ‘assembled a restraint kit, and formulated a plan with a third party to travel to the UK and to the home of Holly Willoughby, break-in to her home, stupefy and tie her up and by force deprive her of her liberty without her consent’
Count 3: Encouraging or assisting the commission of and offence believing it would be committed, contrary to section 45 of the Serious Crime Act 2007
The clerk read that between December 27 2021 and October 5 2023, Clumb is alleged to have ‘formulated a plan with a third party to have sex with Holly Willoughby without her consent, which was capable of encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence, namely rape, which was capable of encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence, namely , believing that the offence would be committed and that his act would encourage or assist in its commission’
He has been accused of hatching a plot to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby (Picture: Rex/Shutterstock)
Among the interactions that Plumb had with the man Marc, they are said to have exchanged 57 images of Willoughby within 46 WhatsApp messages from January 12 until January 19 2022.
Prosecutor Morgan KC said that nine of these images were ‘deepfake pornography’, while others featured ‘two other female celebrities and four images of unknown women tied up’.
‘One image displays the words “hurting women is fun” across it. Plumb and Marc also continue sexualised discussions about Ms Willoughby,’ the prosecutor said.
‘Plumb states he has booked 10 days off work in February “to get longer to stake [Holly Willoughby] out”.’
Another message read: ‘Just the thought of finally getting her [Ms Willoughby] is turning me on I’m actually looking forward to doing it.
‘I’m at the point where idc [I don’t care] about the risks or consequences.’
The court heard that Plumb also discussed ‘the deceased BBC presenter Jill Dando’ – who was shot dead on her doorstep in 1999 – while communicating with Marc on WhatsApp.
This is a breaking news story, more to follow soon… Check back shortly for further updates.
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