Security guard accused of plotting kidnap, rape and murder of Holly Willoughby 'plainly gained sexual arousal from planning attacks on real women' and 'fantasy was never going to be enough', court hears
A security guard accused of a plot to kidnap Holly Willoughby went to 'great lengths to suggest to other people it was not fantasy', a court heard today.
Gavin Plumb, 37, is accused of planning to snatch the TV presenter from her home before raping and murdering her.
His claims details of the plot he shared with an undercover officer were purely 'fantasy' and he was too obese to carry it out.
But Alison Morgan KC told the jury in her closing speech that the evidence shows planning alone 'wasn't enough' for Plumb.
'He plainly gained sexual arousal from the planning of the attacks on real women and is someone who had done it in real life,' she told the court.
Plumb (pictured) is accused of planning to rape Ms Willoughby before murdering her and then disposing her body in a lake
The 37-year-old kept hundreds of photos of Ms Willoughby on his phone, three of which were shown to the jury
'Watching pornography was never going to be enough. Just finding deep fake porn of Holly Willoughby was never going to be enough.'
'This was a man who had already crossed that threshold from fantasy to reality. He had laid his hands on real women. He had terrified real women.'
The court has heard that Plumb served time after committed three offences of attempted kidnap and false imprisonment involving four women in 2006 and 2008.
Ms Morgan continued: 'The defendant, make no mistake about it, is one who had to take it that stage further.
'This had to be real. And from the volume of his messages and persistence of his messages, he could think of little else.'
Referring to the conversations he unwittingly had with an undercover police officer in the US who used the pseudonym David Nelson, Ms Morgan said this was the moment the defendant 'found someone who was matching him in terms of level of commitment.
She told the jury: 'There's an expression that tells you everything in this case. It's the defining expression. His words ''s*** it's really happening''.
'These were the defendant's words when he realised another person who he believed to be called David Nelson was genuinely prepared to join him in his plan to attack Holly Willoughby…
Gavin Plumb, 37, (pictured in a selfie) allegedly planned to kidnap, rape and murder TV presenter Holly Willoughby
Jurors heard that Plumb assembled a 'restraint kit', which he filmed laid out on his bed
An artist's drawing of Plumb at Chelmsford Crown Court at the start of his trial last Monday
'He didn't say 'Don't do that, I was just kidding'. He didn't say 'This is just fantasy, you haven't actually booked a flight, have you?'
'After years of planning, he had finally found someone who did not appear to have cold feet.'
Ms Morgan warned the jury they should not accept the defendant's online conversations in groups such as 'Abduct Lovers' as 'just chat' and compared the alleged plan to an inept individual attempting to co-ordinate a terrorist bomb plot.
'He commits an offence by planning such an attack, regardless of whether or not that plan is doomed to fail,' she said.
'Boring details' provided further evidence of the defendant's intent, suggested the prosecutor, who gave the example of Plumb and his alleged fellow plotters discussing getting time off work to carry out the raid on Ms Willoughby's London home.
Plumb, 37, exclaims in the footage from October 4 'what are you talking about' and 'please explain to me what the hell is going on'
'That's not sexy. That's not gratifying. That's a real detail about what you need to happen in the planning of this,' she said.
Describing Plumb as a 'prolific liar', Ms Morgan told the jury 'not to underestimate this defendant'.
Referring to the name he used in the Abduct Lovers group online, she added: 'There's a nasty reality to this man. Big Bear? I don't think so. He shocked even those who were prepared to fantasise with him.'
Ms Morgan concluded: 'Whether or not you think the plan he had put together was likely to succeed is not the question. That's not the legal test you have to apply.
'What matters is whether he encouraged these offences to be committed and whether he intended or believed that they would be.'
Plumb planned to take Ms Willoughby from her home to a secluded location with a 'dungeon-style' room where she would be repeatedly raped and then killed,' the court has heard. He was arrested in October last year.
He denies soliciting murder, incitement to rape and incitement to kidnap.
The trial continues.
