THE beast who plotted to kidnap TV’s Holly Willoughby has been caught with a sinister stash of pictures of her in his jail cell. Gavin Plumb’s disturbing haul was found by prison officers hidden under a mattress.
A source said: “Plumb is still obsessed with Holly. The pictures were taken from magazines.
“He should not have been allowed access to images of her.”
They were found in a search at HMP Long Lartin, Worcs, where obese Plumb, 39, is serving 15 years for his plot to attack the TV star.
He is understood to have lost privileges over the creepy cache.
The source said: “Plumb is an absolutely vile individual with a very weird aura around him.”
He has also struck up a grim friendship in the high-security jail with fellow lag Suffolk Strangler Steve Wright, who is serving life for murdering six women.
Our source said: “Plumb is still completely obsessed and completely remorseless.
“He was asked about his crimes once and he replied, ‘Who wouldn’t want to kidnap Holly and rape her?’ He was really smug about it.
“Plumb thinks he is some sort of celebrity but, in reality, he is disgusting and clearly still a danger.
“The good thing is he won’t ever be released unless he changes his ways massively. Behaviour like this would go before a parole board.”
Plumb, jailed in July 2024 for soliciting Holly’s murder, kidnap, and the commission of rape, had his cell searched when his disturbing behaviour raised suspicions.
Guards confiscated the images and ex-security guard Plumb is understood to have lost TV rights and other privileges over them.
The source added: “Plumb was going round and collecting TV magazines from other inmates on his landing and scouring them for pictures of Holly.
“Obviously, she is very famous and popular, so her image crops up a lot.
“Someone might have told guards so they spun [searched] his cell and found a folder bulging with images of Holly which they destroyed.
“No one was that surprised because Plumb makes no attempt to hide his obsession with her.
“He was laughing about it with Wright afterwards — they are really close friends.”
Wright, 67, was jailed for life for the murders of five women in Ipswich in 2006.
This year he was found guilty of the murder of a sixth victim — schoolgirl Victoria Hall, who was 17 when he kidnapped and killed her in 1999 — and is suspected of further crimes.
“Wright and Plumb spend loads of time in each other’s cells and are as bad as each other. They are known as the odd couple,” the source said.
They added that the pair cooked meals together in the communal kitchen.
Plumb also gorges on sweets, chocolate and fizzy drinks, while he and Wright are said to “watch telly together including crime documentaries and play cards”.
The insider also said although the jail was awash with drugs such as cocaine, MDMA, spice and steroids the pair did not use them.
Plumb’s plan to kidnap, rape and murder TV golden girl Holly, 45, was thwarted by an undercover US officer online thousands of miles away in Minnesota.
Sexual predator Plumb outlined his plot in a chatroom on October 4, 2023.
The officer posed as another kidnap enthusiast while Plumb outlined how they would attack Holly and her husband, TV producer Dan Baldwin.
The US officer printed a fake plane ticket to convince Plumb he was travelling to the UK and got his address — then alerted the FBI, which contacted Scotland Yard.
Essex Police, — fearing an imminent threat to Holly, arrested Plumb at his home in Harlow on the day they were warned about him.
They found a kidnap kit including handcuffs, 400 heavy-duty cable ties and chloroform plus more than 10,000 photos of Holly inside Plumb’s flat.
Body camera footage showed Plumb telling police: “I’m not gonna lie. She’s a fantasy of mine. She’s a fantasy of a lot of guys.”
Holly quit This Morning days later, after 14 years on the ITV show. The mum-of-three told her fans in an online statement: “I have to make this decision for me and my family.”
Plumb tried to abduct two women he met on trains in 2006 and was given a suspended sentence.
Then he was jailed for 32 months in 2008 for imprisoning two 16-year-old girls in a Woolworths storeroom.
For the plot against Holly, he got a minimum of 15 years and 85 days at Chelmsford crown court in 2024.
Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy said: “A man who has been jailed for such obsessive crimes should not be able to obtain images of his victim behind bars.
“From drugs and weapons to obscene material, there is a huge problem with contraband in prisons.
“Instead of releasing criminals early and introducing soft sentences, Labour must get a grip on security.”
A Prison Service spokesperson said: “These prisoners’ crimes were despicable and it is right they are behind bars where they belong.
“We are cracking down on drugs, drones and illicit items with stronger physical security and better staffing at Long Lartin.”
They said £40million has been spent on boosting prisons’ security. Holly’s spokeswoman was contacted.
