A security guard has been found guilty of plotting to kidnap, rape and murder British television presenter Holly Willoughby.Plumb slowly shook his head and looked down at the floor as the verdicts were read out.The court heard the father-of-two has two previous convictions for attempted kidnap, for trying to abduct two women off a train, and two for false imprisonment, after holding two 16-year-old girls at knifepoint.
An undercover US police officer told jurors last week he believed Plumb posed an"imminent threat" to the presenter after meeting him on a Kik messenger group called"Abduct Lovers".Plumb said in messages he planned to target her in a"home invasion", using chloroform to subdue Holly Willoughby and her husband, the TV producer Dan Baldwin, before tying them up, kidnapping her and repeatedly raping her.
Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Gavin Plumb appearing at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court, 26-10-23. Image PA Images Alamy Plumb told jurors the bottles of chloroform he had purchased were to clean a carpet stain and said he had bought a BDSM kit in 2014"to rekindle my relationship with my ex-partner".Holly Willoughby did not give evidence or attend the trial but waived her right to automatic anonymity as an alleged victim of a planned sexual offence.