THE ex-partner of the man who plotted to murder TV presenter Holly Willoughby told The Sun she reported him for rape and assault during their relationship and said: “He’s a true monster.”
Laura Roberts, 38, said twisted Gavin Plumb subjected her to years of horrific abuse, and once even dangled her over a concrete stairwell.
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With her hands shaking in her lap, Laura — who eventually got court orders to protect herself and her children from Plumb — said she wanted to hug telly star Holly and say sorry.
She said: “I have seen the darkest side to him and he is capable of evil.
“The thought that he was planning to do to Holly what he did to me, it is keeping me awake at night.
“It came so close to happening to her and she doesn’t even know him.
“In a way, I blame myself for what happened to me. I should have left Gavin sooner.
“But Holly is just the lovely lady from the telly and I am so, so sorry she has had to go through hell like I did because of him.”
Laura first met Plumb through friends when she was 12 and he was 11.
But she first saw his sinister side emerge after they began dating when she was 19.
Breaking down in tears at her home, Laura, who has raised Plumb’s two children alone, said: “He started to control me from the start of our relationship.
“He controlled what I did and who I saw. It was emotional stuff first.
“He made me feel like no one wanted me or liked me.
“He said that I had to stay home and do things with him. I didn’t even see my family.
“We didn’t really do anything but stay in — all he would want to do was stuff his face with KFC and Burger King all the time.
“He took my money and spent it on food and I started to be very isolated and alone.”
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Security guard Plumb was found guilty of plotting to kidnap, rape and kill Holly, 43, after a seven-day trial at Chelmsford crown court.
He told the hearing that his “extremely toxic” relationship with Laura was to blame for his attempts to kidnap of two air hostesses in separate incidents in 2006.
He also claimed it was the trigger that led him to then falsely imprison two 16-year-old shop girls in a Woolworths store in 2008.
He would smirk and laugh at me as he stood over me. He really, really enjoyed it when I was scared.
Taking the stand last Friday, 25-stone Plumb claimed the violent attack — in which he bound one of the teenager’s hands while brandishing a knife — was a “cry for help” to escape from Laura.
But she hit back: “I was skinny and 5ft tall. How could I be the one that was controlling him?
“He will say anything to get away with what he planned to do to Holly, and it is sickening.
“I was on a break from Gavin when he went after the air hostesses. I remember he called me from prison and he told me it was all a lie. I loved him back then, so I believed him.”
Laura said Plumb subjected her to almost daily physical abuse.
She went on: “He used to hit me in the face, slap me and kick me.
“I would be cowering in the corner begging him to stop.
“He would smirk and laugh at me as he stood over me. He really, really enjoyed it when I was scared.
“I called the police when he attacked me on multiple occasions — but because we were together and I didn’t feel like I could leave him and get away, nothing ever happened.”
The violence escalated. Laura said: “He had a row with his mum about me. He came to my flat and grabbed his bike and laid into me with it.
“He turned his bike around and tried to whack me with the back wheel in the head.
“Then he tried to throw me over the bannister. We were two flights up and it was concrete. He dangled me over it. I screamed and screamed.
“I used to fear for my life all the time when I was with him.
“After he attacked me he said sorry, but at the time he just enjoyed the power way too much. He couldn’t snap out of it no matter how much I begged. There was no way out.”
LIFE WITH A MONSTER
In 2007, Laura fell pregnant with their first child and they moved in to a flat together in Harlow, Essex.
But it was only a few months after their son was born that she left Plumb for good.
Laura, now a mum of four, said: “That was the one thing that gave me the strength to leave Gavin. My son.
“He saved me. I didn’t want Gavin’s influence in his life because I didn’t feel safe.
“That’s when I turned to my family and the police for help. I got my son and escaped.”
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In November 2008, shortly after she discovered she was expecting their baby girl, Laura reported Plumb to Essex Police for rape.
She said: “The police investigated after I reported it but the case was not taken further.
“Our baby was in the cot and I told the police that he pinned me down on the floor.
“Gavin’s eyes were wild. There was no way I could escape because he is huge.
“I was only a size eight at that time. After it happened, I just sat and cried and cried. I have still never got over it to this day.
“I reported him to the police but they said they didn’t have enough evidence so it was really disappointing.
“Then it wasn’t long after that he went on to attack those girls in Woolworths.”
When Plumb was arrested in 2008 for attacking his Woolworth colleagues, the courts put a non- molestation order and an injunction in place to try to stop him from having contact with Laura and their two young children, who were just 11 months apart in age.
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
But when Plumb was released from prison two years later, he tracked down Laura and the kids.
She said: “I was terrified. The police arrested him again but he wasn’t sent back to prison or anything.
“Then I moved out of the area to get completely away and start again. That was the last time I saw him — 13-years ago.”
Asked if she believes if Plumb would have carried out the attempted kidnap, rape and murder of former This Morning star Holly, Laura said: “There is just no doubt about it in my mind. And if it wasn’t that poor woman, it would be someone else.”
When asked what she would say to Holly, Laura added: “I would cry if I met her, to be honest.
“I feel ashamed for Gavin and for what he has done.
“I would apologise to her and I would probably give her a hug, because I know exactly what it is like.
“I am glad that women are safer again now he is staying behind bars.”
Plumb is due to be sentenced on July 12.