Security guard learns of his ‘sad, brutal and humiliating’ plot to kidnap TV personality

A man has been jailed for life for plotting to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby, one of Britain’s most high-profile television personalities.

At the sentencing hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of London, Judge Edward Murray told Gavin Plumb, 37, that he must serve a minimum of 16 years before being eligible for parole.

Plumb was convicted by a jury last week after an eight-day trial.

“Over a number of years, you pursued an unhealthy sexual obsession with Holly Willoughby which led you to plan to kidnap, rape and kill her during that period,” the judge said. “As part of your plan you wanted to harm her husband and her children.”

He added that Plumb’s plans were so “horrendous, shocking and graphic in detail” that they were not shared in open court, although the jury heard them.

They were, he added, “particularly sad, brutal and humiliating” and his “no doubt” plans were “much more than a fantasy”.