'Women should not be made to feel unsafe going about our daily lives,' the former 'This Morning' host after 37-year-old Gavin Plumb was found guilty.

An Essex man who plotted to kidnap, rape, and murder former This Morning host Holly Willoughby has been found guilty. Following an eight-day trial and more than 12 hours of juror deliberation, the Chelmsford Crown Court convicted Gavin Plumb, a 37-year-old former security guard, of assembling "a tool kit for highly sexualised violence" against the longtime ITV host to fulfill his "ultimate fantasy," the BBC reported Monday.

Plumb's "obsession" with Willoughby spanned more than a decade, according to prosecutor Alison Morgan KC, who said he had a "real intention" to kidnap the broadcaster from her home, "take her to a location where she would be raped repeatedly" and then murder her." During the eight-day trial, the jury heard how Plumb, who had attacked women twice before, purchased 400 "heavy duty" metal cable ties and bottles purported to contain chloroform, which he allegedly planned to use to knock out Willoughby and her husband after breaking in to their house. The jury also heard how the Essex man looked at an abandoned stud farm with cells to "keep" Willoughby.

Plumb unwittingly revealed details of his attack to an undercover police officer in the U.S. in an online group called "Abduct Lovers" in a series of conversations between 2021 and 2023. In one message, Plumb allegedly wrote, "I'm going to be living out my ultimate fantasy. I'm now at the point that fantasy isn't enough anymore. I want the real thing." In another, he said, "We're then gonna force her [Ms Willoughby] to make a video saying she come with us under her own free will... and she's fully consenting to everything we do to her – so that covers us." During the trial, Plumb admitted the messages were "dark," but said he had "no plan" to carry them out. He said , his words were "massively regrettable."

Plumb was arrested and charged in October 2023 after the undercover officer notified the FBI of Plumb's concerning message. The FBI then notified Essex Police. Plumb denied soliciting murder and inciting kidnap and rape throughout the eight-day trial, with the BBC reporting that he cried as the verdict was read Monday. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 12.

Addressing the Monday guilty verdict, Willoughby, who left ITV's This Morning after 14 years shortly after the plot was foiled, said in a statement, per Deadline: "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." She went on to thank "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."