Willoughby plotter tells jury he attacked women 'in cry for help' and to be arrested

A security guard accused of plotting to kidnap, rape and murder TV star Holly Willoughby told a court he attacked women to escape his “toxic relationship” in a “cry for help” before his weight ballooned to 35st.

- AMY-CLARE MARTIN

Giving evidence in his own defence, Gavin Plumb, 37, revealed he first started struggling with his weight at age 13, which he said impacted his confidence.

“It was something that just constantly put me down personally. As I wasn’t able to go and do what my friends were doing,” he told jurors at Chelmsford Crown Court.

Under questioning from defence counsel Sasha Wass KC, he said he had trouble forming relationships in his teenage years, adding he was regularly in the “friend zone” and “nothing more”.

His first serious relationship started at age 18 but this soon became toxic, he claimed as he gave evidence from the witness box wearing a grey tracksuit.

“It was extremely toxic. It was constant arguments there was constant… the things that a couple were doing as in having a normal relationship kind of thing – we wasn’t – we were constantly arguing, we were constantly at each other,” he told the jury.

The father of two said the impact on him was “massive”, adding: “I was constantly put down, I was constantly told I’m not good enough, she can do much better than me.”

When questioned about his previous conviction for attempting to kidnap two female airline stewards on the Stansted Express in 2006, he alleged he carried it out to get himself incarcerated.

“For me it was my only option – being in the relationship that I was in, it was toxic, I was extremely young, I needed to find a way out,” he said.

He admitted he had a “stewardess fantasy” but insisted that did not play a part in the attack. He also told the court he “was not aware” he was carrying an imitation firearm until the police arrested him.