British granddad who ‘tried to drown daughter-in-law in pool on holiday’ avoids jail

A granddad who tried to drown his daughter-in-law during a holiday in Florida will not face any jail time.

Mark Gibbon was staying with family at the Solterra Resort in Florida when an argument is said to have broken out over a will.

Gibbon, a granddad from Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, allegedly tried to push his daughter-in-law, Jasmine Wyld, 33, under the water, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. 

His nine-year-old granddaughter attempted to save her mum and jumped into the pool, but Gibbon pushed her away, police said.

He reportedly paid $26,000 to be released under bail and pleaded guilty to battery, with second-degree murder and strangulation charges dropped.

Despite him attacking her, Wyld had asked for Gibbon to be released and returned to the UK, saying he had been ‘punished enough’, Sky News reports.

The State Attorney’s Office said: ‘The victim informed our office that she felt the defendant had been punished enough and she desired that he be allowed to return to England and have contact with her and her daughter.

‘She had no fear of him. The defendant completed an anger management course and was adjudicated guilty of battery.’

It was revealed by the Daily Mail that Gibbon and Wyld have been in a relationship for the last two years after both of their marriages broke down.

Wyld shares two children with Gibbon’s son Alex, who is said to be estranged from his father.

A family source told the Daily Mail: ‘Mark and Jasmine have been seeing each other for a few years, but they’ve never admitted it.

‘Alex and his dad don’t speak at all. There have been a number of issues within the family.

‘He feels an awful betrayal at how his dad has struck up a relationship with the mother of his two children.’

Two years ago Alex Gibbon, 34, pleaded guilty to hitting his father with an £80,000 Porsche after he separated from Ms Wyld.

Alex also pleaded guilty to harassing Wyld, according to the Times.