Guard accused of Holly Willoughby kidnap plot tells jury he attacked women to escape ‘toxic relationship’

Gavin Plumb claims he purchased chloroform to clean a stain on his carpet and his online discussions about the star were ‘fantasy’, the court heard

A security guard accused of plotting to kidnap, rape and murder TV star Holly Willoughby told a court he attacked women to escape his “toxic relationship” in a “cry for help” before his weight ballooned to 35st.

Giving evidence in his own defence, Gavin Plumb, 37, revealed he first started struggling with his weight at age 13, which he said impacted his confidence.

“It was something that just constantly put me down personally. As I wasn’t able to go and do what my friends were doing,” he told jurors at Chelmsford Crown Court.

Under questioning from defence counsel Sasha Wass KC, he said he had trouble forming relationships in his teenage years, adding he was regularly in the “friend zone” and “nothing more”.

His first serious relationship started at age 18 but this soon became toxic, he claimed as he gave evidence from the witness box wearing a grey tracksuit.

“It was extremely toxic. It was constant arguments there was constant… the things that a couple were doing as in having a normal relationship kind of thing – we wasn’t – we were constantly arguing, we were constantly at each other,” he told the jury.

The father of two said the impact on him was “massive”, adding: “I was constantly put down, I was constantly told I’m not good enough, she can do much better than me.”

Holly Willoughby is the alleged target of a kidnap, rape and murder plot (PA)

When questioned about his previous conviction for attempting to kidnap two female airline stewards on the Stansted Express in 2006, he alleged he carried it out to get himself incarcerated.

“For me it was my only option – being in the relationship that I was in, it was toxic, I was extremely young, I needed to find a way out,” he said.

He admitted he had a “stewardess fantasy” but insisted that did not play a part in the attack. He also told the court he “was not aware” he was carrying an imitation firearm until the police arrested him.

The court previously heard Plumb was handed a 12-month suspended sentence for the 2006 attack. But he was later jailed for 32 months for false imprisonment for another attack on two teenage girls in 2008, in which he threatened them with a “box-cutter/Stanley knife-type instrument”.

He told Ms Wass KC that he also carried out the second attack to escape his relationship.

He added: “It was exactly the same. I just needed a way out of the relationship, knowing full well that it worked the last time.”

Under cross-examination from prosecutor Alison Morgan KC, he insisted the crimes were a “cry for help”.

Challenged over why he told the police the incident on a train was a prank, he replied: “It was a cry for help. I didn’t understand the full gravity of it at the time.”

Jurors were shown a picture from inside Gavin Plumb’s flat after he claimed he had purchased chloroform to remove a stain from his carpet (Crown Prosecution Service)

Plumb also claimed he had purchased chloroform as a cleaning product to get rid of a stain by his fridge.

The court previously heard he sent a picture of a bottle of chloroform to undercover US officer David Nelson while sharing details of his alleged plot to kidnap Ms Willoughby, 43.

“If you do proper research the proper definition and actual reason for chloroform is a cleaning product, which is why I bought it,” he told the court.

“When I moved in to the flat I had a very large stain by my fridge. I tried everything on the market and nothing worked so I searched for a cleaning product that was going to work.”

Asked why he researched the effects of it on the internet, Plumb said he “didn’t want… to be affected by it”.

When Ms Morgan told him chloroform could “seriously incapacitate someone”, he replied: “That wasn’t what I was planning on using it for.”

Gavin Plumb said his online chats about the TV presenter were ‘dark’ but insisted they were just fantasy (PA)

Around the time he left prison for false imprisonment, Plumb – who is 5ft 10in – said his weight was fluctuating between 18st and 26st and he spent “99.9 per cent” of his time online.

It was during this period he became interested in bondage and sadomasochism (known as BDSM), the jury were told, following a brief sexual relationship with a woman in 2014. He admitted he had purchased a “kit” from Amazon that included a whip, lead, shackles, blindfold and clamps with black rope.

When Ms Morgan questioned why he stored metal cable ties with the alleged BDSM kit, he said didn’t have room elsewhere in his flat, adding: “I’ve not used it yet.”

Between 2014 and 2018 his weight peaked at over 35st, the court heard. Practically housebound, he said he spent his life online, where he engaged in fantasy discussions about celebrities – admitting that Ms Willoughby was his “celebrity crush”.

He said: “My weight got up to 35.5st. I was housebound. I physically couldn’t move without being in pain or being breathless.”

Although he agreed his conversations with an online user called “Marc” about the Dancing on Ice presenter were “dark”, he insisted he never planned to follow through with the plot.

“It was talk – nothing more,” he said.

The 37-year-old said he got a “rush of excitement” during discussions about keeping Ms Willoughby in a “dungeon”, but again insisted: “I knew it was online chat.”

Jurors were shown footage from police body-worn cameras of the arrest of Gavin Plumb last October (Essex Police/PA)

In police body-worn video footage of Plumb’s arrest last October, played to the jury, the defendant exclaimed to officers “What are you talking about” and “Please explain to me what the hell is going on.”

When officers told him he was being detained over an alleged plot to kidnap Ms Willoughby, he responded: “I am not going to lie she is a fantasy of mine. I mean she’s a fantasy of a lot of guys isn’t she.”

He estimated he weighed somewhere “between 25st and 30st” at the time.

He told the jury he had “more chance of tripping over the step walking down” than jumping over a wall outside the former This Morning presenter’s home in an attempted kidnap.

The prosecution claims it was Plumb’s “ultimate fantasy” to target Ms Willoughby, who has waived her right to anonymity.

The shopping centre security guard is accused of soliciting the undercover US officer to join a plot to commit murder, and of incitement to kidnap and rape the TV personality. Plumb, of Harlow in Essex, denies all the charges.

The trial continues.