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Brit holidaymaker charged with attempted murder after ‘trying to drown daughter-in-law in row over will’

Mark Raymond Gibbon, 62, is accused of trying to drown 33-year-old mother-of-two Jasmine Wyld after they argued about his grandchildren in their rental home at the Solterra Resort.
Mark Raymond Gibbon, 62, is accused of trying to drown 33-year-old mother-of-two Jasmine Wyld after they argued about his grandchildren in their rental home at the Solterra Resort. Picture: Polk County Sheriff's Office

By Josef Al Shemary

A British man has been charged by US police with the attempted murder of his daughter-in-law after allegedly trying to drown her in a swimming pool while holidaying near Disney World in a row over inheritance.

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Mark Raymond Gibbon, 62, is accused of trying to drown the 33-year-old mother-of-two after they argued about his grandchildren in their rental home at the Solterra Resort, near Disney World in Florida.

Ms Wyld has two children with Mr Gibbon’s son, Alex, and her nine-year-old daughter 'jumped into the pool' to 'stop her being drowned', according to witnesses.

Officers responded to reports of a disturbance in a back-yard swimming pool at around 5.20pm local time in the resort in Davenport, Florida, on Sunday.

Gibbon allegedly pushed and held the victim's head under water multiple times which prevented her from breathing, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said on X.

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Officers responded to reports of a disturbance in a back-yard swimming pool at around 5.20pm local time in the resort in Davenport, Florida, on Sunday.
Officers responded to reports of a disturbance in a back-yard swimming pool at around 5.20pm local time in the resort in Davenport, Florida, on Sunday. Picture: Solterra Resort Vacation Homes

According to the Sheriff’s office, Mr Gibbon had got into a row with his daughter-in-law over “stipulations of his will”.

“She advised that she could not breathe and believed that she was going to drown,” officials wrote.

“[The victim] advised that she had to fight Mark in order to get away from him and from under the water but he kept pushing her back under.”

According to US website People, a witness told officers she had “observed [Gibbon] push [Wyld] under the water and hold her there multiple times', and was still watching when he “scratched Jasmine on her chest.”

He allegedly only stopped after holidaymakers next door said they had called the sheriff's office, according to Mr Judd.

Gibbon, of Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, was arrested and taken to Polk County Jail before he was charged with attempted second-degree murder and battery, Mr Judd said.

The sheriff said in a statement: "It's great that Polk County draws visitors from all across the world, but we expect vacationers to behave while they visit with us, just as we expect our lifelong residents to do the same.

"Because Mr Gibbon couldn't control his anger, he may find himself spending a lot more time in Florida than he had anticipated."

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