'A dark depravity'

>> Jurors told Plumb plotted rape & murder >> He warned 'fantasy isn't enough now'

- TOM PETTIFOR

GAVIN Plumb plotted to knock out Holly Willoughby with chloroform in a night raid at her home before kidnapping, raping and killing the TV star, a court heard yesterday.

The 37-year-old shopping centre security guard allegedly spent almost two years planning the snatch, during which time he unwittingly shared his plans with an undercover police officer in the US online.

Plumb also showed images to a contact of imitation firearms and a video of his "kit", laid out on a bed, including hand and ankle shackles, a ball gag, rope, metal cable ties and handcuffs.

He described the plan as his "ultimate fantasy", the court heard, and added: "Fantasy isn't enough any more. I want the real thing" Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC told jurors on the opening day of Plumb's trial that Holly would have suffered "catastrophic violence" had he not been arrested.

She said: "You will consider, is this the talk of a fantasist or is this someone who expresses himself with such dark depravity that it is clear that he meant what he said?

INTENTIONS

"The prosecution's case is that the online discussions that this defendant had revealed his real intentions to kidnap Holly Willoughby from her family home, to take her to a location where she would be raped repeatedly, before the defendant then intended to kill her. It was not just the ramblings of a fantasist.

"The defendant had carefully planned what he would do and how he would do it, purchasing items that would assist him." In December 2022, the court heard, Plumb set out his plans for once he got into Holly's home, including using metal ties to restrain her and incapacitating her husband, Dan Baldwin.

And in March 2023, he said in a voicemail to a man called Marc he met online: "Plan of action... we're gonna hit it hard, hit it at night, less traffic on the road.