A security guard on trial for plotting to kill Holly Willoughby posed an “immediate threat” to her safety, an undercover US-based officer who reported the intention to British police told jurors on Thursday.
The officer, appearing via video link at Chelmsford Crown Court using the false name David Nelson, gave evidence at the trial of Gavin Plumb, 37, who denies plotting to kidnap, rape and murder Ms Willoughby.
Nelson, who works with the Owatonna Police Department in Minnesota, told jurors that one of his roles involves “doing online investigations across various types of social media applications,” which is how he met Plumb.
He told the court he had been looking for cases of human trafficking and abduction and came across Plumb in an online group called “Abduct Lovers.”
Officers were questioned about the plausibility of Plumb’s plan given that he weighed “30 stone” and was “significantly overweight” and unable to drive, but Mr Nelson said it was a “believable plan”.
Alison Morgan KC, prosecuting, asked officers why they had attempted to send direct messages to Plumb, who was living in Harlow, Essex, at the time.
“At that point, I felt there was an immediate threat to the female,” Nelson said.
Mr Nelson told the court that Plumb had shared “information about what he believed to be the television presenter’s address” and agreed that Plumb had also shared “information about the vehicle used by Mr Willoughby”.
He recalled the defendant sending him images of what the officer described as a “kidnapping kit”, saying it was “quite disturbing at that point in the conversation”.
Plumb also allegedly sent a photo of a bottle of chloroform. “Earlier in our conversation he said he had chloroform,” Plumb told the court. “The photos of the kidnapping kit didn’t show any chloroform. I asked him where the chloroform was and he sent me a photo of it.”
Jurors heard at the start of the trial that a search of Plumb’s home uncovered sexual paraphernalia, chloroform, cable ties, a folding knife and a mobile phone which contained more than 10,000 photographs of Willoughby.
The court heard Plumb sent officers screenshots of a Google Maps link showing routes from his address to Willoughby’s home.
Nelson told the jury that he asked Plumb the distance from his house to Willoughby’s residence “to find out where he was, where he lived.”
The court heard that officers passed information about Plumb to the FBI and a meeting was held between Nelson, the FBI and the Metropolitan police on October 4 last year.
Mr Morgan said: “During the course of communication between the FBI and the Metropolitan police, were you providing updates from your conversations with the defendant?”
The officer answered, “Yes.”
He also agreed that the information was “being communicated effectively to the UK authorities so that they can act”.
Sasha Wass KC, for Plumb, asked the officer whether he thought the defendant’s size would affect his ability to carry out the plan, describing his client as “significantly overweight”.
She questioned Nelson about Plumb’s suggestion to jump over the wall of the Willoughby property: “Despite knowing his appearance and his build, did what you were told about that plan, or that plan to jump over the wall, cause you to reassess the veracity of the plan?”
“No, that is not the case,” the officer responded, adding, “Taking all things into consideration, I believe this was a credible plan and it would have been carried out with or without my cooperation.”
Ms Wass later described Plumb as “huge”, adding that he “weighed around 30 stone”. “His size and girth affected his athletic ability to some extent,” she said.
In response, Detective Inspector William Belsham, of Essex Police, said: “He was not walking lightly but from the video I saw he was walking fine.”
At the start of the trial the jury was told Plumb had previous convictions for attempted kidnapping and false imprisonment – for trying to force two women off a train in 2006 using a fake gun and threatening notes, and for trying to tie up two teenage girls at a Woolworths warehouse in 2008.
The trial continues.
