Warped Gavin Plumb’s plot to kidnap, rape & murder Holly Willoughby had ‘catastrophic & life-changing’ impact’ on star

WARPED Gavin Plumb's plot to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby had a "catastrophic and life-changing impact" on her.

Plumb was unanimously convicted of soliciting murder and inciting rape and kidnap following an earlier trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.

He was today jailed for life after his "depraved and vile"; plans were foiled

Plumb was today jailed after being convicted of soliciting murder, incitement to kidnap and incitement to rape.

He was handed three concurrent life sentences for each of the offences, with a minimum term of 15 years.

Plumb will remain on the sex offenders' register for life and has also been handed a restraining order.

The 37-year-old was snared after a US undercover police officer infiltrated an online group called Abduct Lovers.

The cop became so concerned about Plumb's posts that evidence was passed to the FBI, who in turn contacted British police.

When Essex Police officers raided Plumb's flat in Harlow they found bottles of chloroform and an "abduction kit" complete with cable ties.

During Plumb's sentencing hearing, prosecutor Alison Morgan KC said Holly wished for her victim personal statement to be private.

But Morgan said it set out the "catastrophic impact of these offences".

She said: "The prosecution submits the impact of this offending has been life-changing for the victim of these offences.

"Both in private and personal terms - private, personal and indeed professional.

"It is clear, the prosecution submit... that the extent of the shock and fear caused by this offending has been impossible to convey.

"The victim has been informed of the consequences, the intentions, and the detail of the evidence in this case.

"It is inevitable that that has exacerbated the trauma for this victim."

Ms Morgan said Ms Willoughby had "made every effort to avoid attention being drawn to herself in this matter".

The prosecutor said: "More broadly, offending of this type, as Ms Willoughby said in her public statement, has a broader impact on women.

"Women should not feel unsafe when going about their daily lives."

Ms Morgan said: "My Lord knows of the extreme and gratuitous degradation of the victim that was planned by this defendant.

"Degradation that was so depraved and vile that they were, by agreement, not reported in detail by representatives of the media."

The prosecutor said it was a case "where the court should impose a sentence of life imprisonment".

Holly said after Plumb's conviction last week that women "should not be made to feel unsafe... in our own homes".

Plumb's plans were foiled when a potential accomplice who he spoke to online turned out to be an undercover cop from Minnesota.

Twisted Plumb told the cop that he was "definitely serious" about his plot to kidnap Ms Willoughby.

He left the officer with the impression that there was an "imminent threat" to her.

When Plumb was arrested last October, officers told him that the allegations concerned Holly.

The now-convicted defendant told them: "I'm not gonna lie, she is a fantasy of mine."

The Dancing On Ice star waived her right to anonymity in connection with the charge against Plumb of assisting or encouraging rape.

Plumb's kidnap plans involved attempting to "ambush" Ms Willoughby at her family home.

He even discussed taking time off work in order to organise the attack.

Plumb told others he would then take the presenter to another location, which he suggested would be a "dungeon"-type room.

Prosecutors described Plumb's plot as "carefully planned" - pointing to the items he had purchased and his efforts to find out when Holly did not have security.

Plumb had argued in his defence that it was just online chat and fantasy.

He will be sentenced by judge Mr Justice Edward Murray.