Following a plot to kill her, Holly Willoughby was forced to miss out on some of her children’s lives.
When police informed the Dancing On Ice presenter of a sickening plot to kidnap, rape, and murder her on October 5, 2023, she was left stunned. Some of the details are too unsettling to report because Gavin Plumb had been planning to attack the star in secret and had gone to great lengths to execute his bizarre plans.
After leaving from This Morning, Holly, 43, was taken to safety with her friend Alison Hammond stepping in. Despite having no idea that he was speaking to an undercover police officer, Pluto had contacted a man in America to help with his sickening plans.
He was found guilty of soliciting murder, encouraging or assisting in the commission of kidnapping, and encouraging or assisting in the commission of rape on July 4, 2024, and given a life sentence with a maximum term of 16 years. Holly bravely renounced her right to anonymity, but her victim impact statement was deemed unintelligible.
Holly has now revealed in a rare interview how devastating the plot was for her family, explaining that she had to stop attending school with her children. “I’ve spent a long time not being able to take my kids to school”, she said. The star went on to tell The Sunday Times Style Magazine: “I know, the school run, every]other] parent, they’d be like, ‘ Christ, you absolutely dodged a bullet there. ‘ However, there have been so many assemblies that I haven’t been able to attend and missed. His eldest son, Harry, is currently completing his GCSEs; this is his final year of college and A-levels, etc.
“And I’m actually appreciative of having this time,” she continued. Without even realising it, I think I’ve missed that. It’s really lovely to receive some of that. Before saying that he had carefully read Holly’s impact statement, Mr. Justice Edward Hess told the court that he was a “well-known and well-loved public figure” and that he had prepared it for “all” the court’s eyes.
Mr Justice Edward Murray also told Plumb he had” no doubt “the security guard’s plans for Willoughby were” considerably more than a fantasy””. He told the court, “I have no doubt that this was far more than just a fantasy for you.” Your plan was blatantly unrealistic for a number of reasons, including your poor physical condition, but you genuinely believed it was a possibility, the judge continued. Although you mentioned having someone else execute the plan, I can assure you that this was pure bravado. You had always intended to carry out your kidnapping, rape, and murder of Ms. Willoughby, but only if the “team” you used to call it could find the right person or people to assist you.
He told the disgraced security guard that his plans were so” horrifying, shocking and graphic in detail, “that they couldn’t be heard in an open court”. However, the jury read every word of the trial, he continued, before adding, “Your claim in your evidence that you had purchased chloroform to remove a stubborn stain from your living room carpet was a particularly clumsy and obvious lie.
Although Holly chose to keep her witness statement private, Alison Morgan KC told the court, “What I can say, and I make this submission from the prosecution… it is abundantly clear that the prosecution submits the impact of this offending has been life-changing for the victim of these offences, both in private as well as personally, and indeed professionally,”
The prosecution contends that it has been impossible to convey the extent of the shock and fear caused by this offending. She urged Plumb to receive a life sentence and said the plans had “catastrophic effects” on her life and that there were “no meaningful mitigating factors.”
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