Stalker who plotted to murder Holly Willoughby ‘caught with stash of pictures of her in cell’

Gavin Plumb wears a green shirt in his mugshot photo.
Gavin Plumb was jailed for life with a minimum of a 16-year sentence (Picture: Essex Police)

The security guard who plotted to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby has reportedly been found with photos of the TV presenter in his jail call.

Gavin Plumb was jailed for life, with a minimum of a 16-year sentence, following a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court in 2024.

He was unanimously convicted of soliciting murder and inciting the rape and kidnap of the former This Morning presenter.

The 39-year-old is now said to have hidden a trove of photos underneath his mattress at HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire.

It is understood that the pictures of Willoughby that Plumb was allegedly found in possession of in prison had come from magazines, according to a report in The Sun.

He is said to have lost certain privileges, including the right to use the TV, in prison as a result of the discovered trove.

File photo dated 05/09/23 of Holly Willoughby. Security guard Gavin Plumb has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 16 years at Chelmsford Crown Court for hatching a plot to kidnap, rape and murder the TV presenter. Issue date: Friday July 12, 2024. PA Photo. See PA story COURTS Willoughby. Photo credit should read: Lucy North/PA Wire
Gavin Plumb has reportedly been found with photos of Holly Willoughby hidden in his cell (Picture: Lucy North/PA Wire)

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A source told the publication: ‘Plumb is still obsessed with Holly. He should not have been allowed access to images of her.

‘Plumb was going round and collecting TV magazines from other inmates on his landing and scouring them for pictures of Holly.

‘No one was that surprised because Plumb makes no attempt to hide his obsession with her.’

Plumb was snared after an undercover US police officer infiltrated an online group called Abduct Lovers and became so concerned about his posts that evidence was passed to the FBI.

US law enforcement in turn contacted police in the UK. When Essex Police officers raided Plumb’s flat in Harlow, they found bottles of chloroform and an ‘abduction kit’ complete with cable ties.

Undated handout file photo issued by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of items showed to Chelmsford Crown Court in the court case of Gavin Plumb, who has been found guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court of masterminding a plot to kidnap, rape and murder TV presenter Holly Willoughby. Issue date: Thursday July 4, 2024. PA Photo. See PA story COURTS Willoughby. Photo credit should read: CPS/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
Plumb was snared by an undercover US police officer (Picture: CPS/PA Wire)

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During his court sentencing, Mr Justice Edward Murray told Plumb: ‘There is no doubt that if you had genuinely found one or more accomplices who were seriously interested in and had been willing to join you in carrying your plan through then you would have put this plan into action.’

Continuing to give his reasons for imposing the prison term, he continued: ‘Over a number of years, you pursued an unhealthy sexual obsession with Holly Willoughby that led you ultimately to plan over that period to kidnap, to rape and to murder her.

‘You intended to harm her husband and her children as part of your plan.’

He went on to say that Plumb had discussed ‘in hideous and revolting detail’ on these chatrooms the ‘prolonged sexual violence’ he intended to inflict on Willoughby after abducting her, concluding: ‘I found you to be dangerous.’

Metro contacted Holly Willoughby’s representative for comment on this story.

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