Man on trial posed ‘imminent threat’ to Holly Willoughby, US officer tells jury

A security guard on trial for allegedly plotting to murder Holly Willoughby posed an “imminent threat” to her safety, the US-based undercover officer who flagged his apparent intentions to UK police told a jury on Thursday.

The officer appeared at Chelmsford crown court via video link using the alias David Nelson to give evidence in the trial of 37-year-old Gavin Plumb, who denies plotting to kidnap, rape and murder Willoughby.

Nelson, who is attached to the Owatonna police department in Minnesota, told jurors that one of his roles was to “engage in online investigations across various types of social media applications”, which was how he met Plumb.

He told the court he looked for instances of human trafficking and kidnapping, and that he came across Plumb in an online group called “Abduct Lovers”.

The officer was questioned about the plausibility of Plumb’s plan considering that at “30 stone” he was “significantly overweight” as well as being unable to drive, but Nelson said it was a “credible plan”.

The prosecutor, Alison Morgan KC, asked the officer why he decided to send a direct message to Plumb, who was living in Harlow, Essex, at the time.

“I felt there was imminent threat to the female at that time,” Nelson said.

Plumb shared “what appeared to be the address” of the TV presenter, Nelson told the court, and he agreed that Plumb also shared “information about the vehicle used by Ms Willoughby”.

He recalled the defendant sending him an image of what the officer described as an “abduction kit”, saying: “At that point in the conversation it was quite alarming.”

He said Plumb also sent a photo of bottles of chloroform. “Earlier in the conversation he had indicated he had chloroform,” he told the court. “It was not present in that photo of his abduction kit. I asked where the chloroform was and he sent a picture of chloroform.”

The jury heard earlier in the trial that a search of Plumb’s home found items including sexualised paraphernalia, chloroform, cable ties and a folding knife, as well as a mobile phone with more than 10,000 images of Willoughby.

The court heard that Plumb sent the officer a screenshot of a Google map showing the route from Plumb’s address to Willoughby’s home.

Nelson told the jury that he asked Plumb how far it was from his home to where Willoughby lived, “to figure out where Mr Plumb was located, where he lived”.

The officer passed information about Plumb to the FBI, the court heard. There was a meeting between Nelson, the FBI and the Metropolitan police on 4 October last year.

Morgan said: “And during the course of that liaison between the FBI and the Metropolitan police, were you providing up to date information from the chat you had had with the defendant?”

The officer replied: “Yes.”

He also agreed that the information was “being passed on effectively for authorities in the UK to deal with”.

Sasha Wass KC, representing Plumb, asked the officer whether he thought the defendant’s size would affect his ability to execute his plan, describing her client as “significantly overweight”.

She questioned Nelson about Plumb’s suggestion that he would jump the outer wall of Willoughby’s property. “Knowing what he looked like and the state of his dimensions, did that plan – or what was said about that plan, jumping the outer wall – cause you to re-evaluate the credibility of this plan?”

The officer replied: “No, it did not.” He added: “When you take in the totality … I believe it was a credible plan and I believe this would have been carried out with or without my services.”

Wass later described Plumb as “enormous”, adding that he was “in the region of 30 stone”. She said: “His size and girth affected his mobility to an extent.”

In response, DC William Belsham, of Essex police, said there was “not a spring in his step but he could walk fine from the video I’ve seen”.

Earlier in the trial, the jury was told that Plumb has previous convictions for attempted kidnap and false imprisonment. He had tried to force two women off a train with a fake gun and a threatening note in 2006 and attempted to tie up two teenage girls in a Woolworths stock room in 2008.

The trial continues.