The man who plotted to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby has been found guilty.
In the past few minutes, the BBC has reported that Gavin Plumb was found guilty after an eight-day trial of assembling a tool kit to use for highly sexualised violence against the former This Morning presenter. He denied soliciting murder and inciting kidnap and rape. He was arrested and charged after he unwittingly disclosed his plans online to an undercover police officer in the U.S.
Detective Greg Wood, of Essex Police, told the BBC that Plumb was an “obsessive loner” who had assembled “all the items he needed to cause Holly Willoughby some serious harm.”
“If the American officer hadn’t have contacted us, I’ve got no doubt that Gavin Plumb could’ve gone on to commit some really horrific crimes,” he added.
The BBC reported that Plumb wept in the dock as he was told he would be sentenced in eight days’ time.
Willoughby left This Morning shortly after the plot was revealed. She had been under police protection the week that Plumb was arrested and taken into custody in October. At the time, she said on Instagram she was leaving This Morning “for me and my family.”
Having already had a difficult year following the allegations against her ex-This Morning co-host Phillip Schofield, Willoughby then spent some time away from TV screens before landing a role presenting ITV’s Dancing on Ice. She is also now making a Netflix survival series with Bear Grylls titled Bear Hunt.