Entertainment
Holly Willoughby’s plotter sent me terrifying 3-word message, reveals ex
THE ex-girlfriend of Holly Willoughby’s plotter has revealed a haunting three-word message he sent her.
Gavin Plumb, 37, was on Thursday found guilty of coming up with a plan to kidnap, rape and murder the star after growing obsessed with her.
The twisted security guard had hatched the sinister plot to ambush his so-called “fantasy” Holly at her home and “stupefy” her using chloroform.
The 35st man then wanted to tie the star up and take her to a “dungeon” where her screams would not be heard “for miles”.
This week Plumb was found guilty of soliciting murder, incitement to kidnap and incitement to rape following a harrowing trial and will be sentenced on Friday.
His ex-girlfriend has now exclusively spoken to The Sun, revealing what he was like when they were together.
Laura Roberts, 38, said Plumb broke a restraining order she had against him for 15 years.
He sent the mum of four threatening messages via Facebook and travelled 100 miles to turn up at her door in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.
One of which was a terrifying three-word message that read: “Watch your back.”
Another warned their two kids “will get hurt”.
He added: “You have stopped me seeing my kids, now you are going to pay.”
Plumb was arrested over his Holly plan in October and had gone to Laura’s house in June last year despite her having injunctions against him.
His twisted plans were only foiled when he divulged all the chilling details to an undercover cop on a site called Abduct Lovers.
Laura this week told The Sun: “When he was making his plan to go to Holly’s house and kidnap her, he actually did track me and the kids down.
“That is terrifying to me. I had court orders and he broke them. He is an evil predator.”
Holly, 43, bravely waived her anonymity in regards to the incitement to rape count so that she could be named in court.
In the hours after Plumb’s verdict, the star revealed she would be “forever grateful” to those who foiled the evil plot.
Holly added: “As women we should not be made to feel unsafe going about our daily lives and in our own homes.
How Plumb became obsessed with Holly
By Holly Christodoulou, Digital Court Editor
YEARS before Plumb had even set his sights on Holly, he became fixated on fulfilling a warped kidnap fantasy.
The security guard spent his time hunched over a computer screen as he trawled through forums dedicated to abduction.
In 2006, Plumb tried to lure a terrified cabin crew worker off a train using a threatening note.
He wrote: “I have got a gun. All you have to do is keep quiet. Do what I say. So just stand up and get off at the next stop with me. Don’t cry or make a sound.
“Don’t stop me from touching you because I won’t hurt you. If you do all of this, no-one will get hurt but if you don’t I am going to shoot you and myself and everyone else.”
Although the plan failed, undeterred Plumb tried again just two days later when he stumbled across another air stewardess on a train.
This time – armed with an imitation firearm and rope – he pretended to be a police officer to get the woman off the train and kidnap her.
But again the plan failed and Plumb retreated back to his online friends to hone his plan.
He put this into practice in 2008 when he attempted to tie up two teenage girls while working in Woolworths.
Holding one 16-year-old at knifepoint, he told her: “Get to the back of the storeroom”.
He was locked up but released two years later where he set the wheels in motion to snatch his “ultimate fantasy” Holly.
Drawing from his previous experience, Plumb knew exactly what it would take to “terrify and overpower a woman”.
This was evident in his “restraint kit”, which consisted of handcuffs, shackles, a gag and two bottles of chloroform.
Thankfully for Holly, he chose the wrong online accomplice to reveal his plan to – an undercover cop who was able to warn police before it was too late.
Hopefully Plumb will now be locked up for a long time so he won’t be able to make his disturbing fantasy a reality.
“I will forever be grateful to the undercover police officer who understood the imminent threat, and to the Metropolitan and Essex police forces for their swift response.
“Thank you to the Crown Prosecution Service, the Rt Hon Mr Justice Murray, Alison Morgan KC, the members of the jury and all involved in this case for ensuring that justice was done and that the defendant will not be able to harm any more women.
“I would also like to commend the bravery of his previous victims for speaking up at the time. Without their bravery this conviction may not have been possible.”
Jurors were told Plumb began obsessing over the former This Morning star when his weight ballooned to 35 stone.
As he was housebound, he began watching more daytime TV, which led to Plumb developing a “celebrity crush” on Holly.
This turned sinister when Plumb set his sights on snatching the presenter after spending years researching kidnapping celebs.
When he was making his plan to go to Holly’s house and kidnap her, he actually did track me and the kids down.
Laura Roberts
The security guard even had previous for abduction attempts – targeting two cabin crew workers on a train as air stewardesses were a “fantasy” of his.
He also tied up a 16-year-old girl at knifepoint but was freed from jail for that disturbing offence in 2010.
Following this week’s conviction, Nicola Rice, a specialist prosecutor in the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Gavin Plumb is a dangerous man who plotted unspeakable violence against one of the nation’s most familiar faces.
“Despite his attempts to pass himself off as a harmless fantasist, the prosecution persuaded the jury that Plumb posed a very real threat.
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“The chilling details of his plans were laid bear with the help of an undercover officer from the US who alerted the FBI to the threat, and the seriousness of Plumb’s scheme was exposed when the prosecution successfully applied to tell the jury about Plumb’s previous convictions.
“I hope his conviction brings some comfort to Holly Willoughby and her family, and shows others that the Crown Prosecution Service will always seek the strongest possible charges against those who plot violence against women.”