I was held at knifepoint by man who plotted to kill Holly Willoughby – he should be locked up for very long time
A FORMER victim of the man who hatched a sick plan to murder Holly Willoughby has warned he should be “locked up for a very long time”.
Emma Ashby was just 16-years-old when evil predator Gavin Plumb, 37, bound her wrists and held her and her friend Louise at knifepoint in a Woolworths storeroom in 2008.
The pair managed to escape his clutches and he was sentenced to 32-months in jail for false imprisonment.
But 15-years later he would be arrested for plotting to kidnap, rape and murder former This Morning presenter Holly.
He was found guilty of the charges against the telly star, 43, at Chelmsford Crown Court on Thursday.
During the seven-day trial, security guard Plumb claimed the plot was just an online “fantasy”.
But mum-of-three Emma, from Harlow, Essex, has no doubt he was capable of carrying out the sinister plan.
She told the Mail on Sunday: “It’s so scary to think what he would have been capable of if Louise hadn’t run…if I had been on my own. Thank God I got away. He is 100 per cent dangerous and should be locked up for a very long time.”
She added: “He might say that it is fantasy to him, but he has done things like this in the past. Tying people up, dressing as a person in power…he has actually carried them out.”
The 35-stone predator, who wanted to “stupefy” Holly with chloroform and take her to a “dungeon” where her screams would not be heard “for miles”, is due to face sentencing on Friday.
Accounts manager Emma is urging the judge to give him a “lengthy sentence” for the ordeal he put the TV stalwart through.
She said: “I’m speaking out for the sake of awareness. He should be sent down because, if not, I dread to think what he could do next. He might claim that Holly Willoughby is fantasy to him but, as I know first-hand, he has done things like this in the past.
“He deserves a lengthy sentence for what he put Holly through, for what he put me and others through. It’s a great relief to know he’ll be sent to prison and unable to ruin anyone else’s life.”
How Plumb became obsessed with Holly
By Holly Christodoulou, Digital Court Editor
Years before Plumb had even set his sights on Holly, he became fixated on fulfilling a warped kidnap fantasy.
The security guard spent his time hunched over a computer screen as he trawled through forums dedicated to abduction.
In 2006, Plumb tried to lure a terrified cabin crew worker off a train using a threatening note.
He wrote: “I have got a gun. All you have to do is keep quiet. Do what I say. So just stand up and get off at the next stop with me. Don’t cry or make a sound.
“Don’t stop me from touching you because I won’t hurt you. If you do all of this, no-one will get hurt but if you don’t I am going to shoot you and myself and everyone else.”
Although the plan failed, undeterred Plumb tried again just two days later when he stumbled across another air stewardess on a train.
This time – armed with an imitation firearm and rope – he pretended to be a police officer to get the woman off the train and kidnap her.
But again the plan failed and Plumb retreated back to his online friends to hone his plan.
He put this into practice in 2008 when he attempted to tie up two teenage girls while working in Woolworths.
Holding one 16-year-old at knifepoint, he told her: “Get to the back of the storeroom”.
He was locked up but released two years later where he set the wheels in motion to snatch his “ultimate fantasy” Holly.
Drawing from his previous experience, Plumb knew exactly what it would take to “terrify and overpower a woman”.
This was evident in his “restraint kit”, which consisted of handcuffs, shackles, a gag and two bottles of chloroform.
Thankfully for Holly, he chose the wrong online accomplice to reveal his plan to – an undercover cop who was able to warn police before it was too late.
Hopefully Plumb will now be locked up for a long time so he won’t be able to make his disturbing fantasy a reality.