A controversial Channel 5 documentary looks at Gavin Plumb’s sick plot to kidnap, rape and kill former This Morning presenter Holly Willoughby
‘I protect stars from stalkers – the plot to kill Holly Willoughby the most dangerous I’ve seen’(Image: PA)
A former Metropolitan Police officer explores the danger Holly Willoughby was in before her stalker was arrested in 2023. Philip Grindell, who now runs a firm protecting high-profile figures, appears in a new Channel 5 documentary about the foiled plot to kidnap, rape and murder the former This Morning presenter.
Gavin Plumb was last year found guilty of soliciting murder and inciting rape and kidnap following a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court. The 37-year-old, from Harlow in Essex, was sentenced at the same court in July to life in prison with a minimum term of 16 years.
The sentencing judge, Mr Justice Edward Murray, told Plumb: “There is no doubt that if you had genuinely found one or more accomplices who were seriously interested in and had been willing to join you in carrying your plan through then you would have put this plan into action.”
Gavin Plumb was arrested towards the end of 2023 and sentenced in July last year (Image: Essex Police)
He sentenced the defendant to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 16 years, minus the 280 days he had spent on remand – taking the total to a minimum jail term of 15 years and 85 days.
A new documentary dives into the chilling real-life story behind The Plot to Kill Holly Willoughby, airing Thursday 1st May at 9pm on Channel 5. Holly declined to contribute or appear on the production and it’s reported she had concerns about the documentary.
The programme looks back on the events that unfolded in 2023, when Holly was quickly replaced on an edition of This Morning as she learnt of the vile plan to kidnap and kill her. Philip Grindell, a former Metropolitan Police officer offers his insight and expertise throughout the documentary.
“My name is Philip Grindell. I spent just under 30 years in the Metropolitan Police. I now run a consultancy… that looks after private clients… or people in the public eye,” he says when introducing himself. “I would say probably 60 to 70% of what we deal with is that unwanted attention, stalkers, harassment.”
Discussing Plumb, he declares: “He very clearly has a very long-standing fixation on Holly Willoughby. It’s a pathological fixation. It means from the minute he wakes up to the minute he goes to sleep, all he thinks about is this particular subject.
“He’s trapped in his own mind, and he doesn’t appear to have anyone that is steering him in certain directions away from something that might be harmful behaviour.”
At the end of the feature, he concludes: “He is a sexual predator and he’s been a sexual predator since he’s about 19 years old. This is his third time in prison as a sexual predator, he clearly hasn’t learned his lessons. In fact, he’s escalated and got it’s perversions have gotten more and more violent.
“And actually, you know, the reality is, rather than worrying about him, we should be worrying about Holly Willoughby, who is left with her lifetime of having to feel anxious, having to feel scared, having to feel alarmed about what’s being said and done about her online. So my thoughts are with her. Not with Plumb.”
Following the guilty verdict delivered to Plumb last year, Holly said in a statement: “As women we should not be made to feel unsafe going about our daily lives and in our own homes. I will forever be grateful to the undercover police officer who understood the imminent threat, and to the Metropolitan and Essex police forces for their swift response.
“Thank you to the Crown Prosecution Service, the Rt Hon Mr Justice Murray, Alison Morgan KC, the members of the jury and all involved in this case for ensuring that justice was done and that the defendant will not be able to harm any more women.
“I would also like to commend the bravery of his previous victims for speaking up at the time. Without their bravery this conviction may not have been possible.”
