British mum whose father-in-law ‘tried to drown her in pool’ pleads for his release

A mum-of-two who was in a relationship with her father-in-law has bagged authorities to release him after he was arrested on suspicion of trying to drown him.

Newly released court footage shows Jasmine Wyld, 33, pleading with prosecutors in the US to free Mark Gibbon who has been charged with attempted murder.

Jasmine was previously engaged to his son Alex who she shared two children with, but the pair split in 2021.

But while on holiday near Disney World, Gibbon allegedly tried to push Jasmine under the water after an argument is said to have broken out over a will.

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

But from her home in Buckinghamshire, she insisted Gibbon was a ‘good man’ and ‘adores his family’.

She said: ‘Obviously I’ve been through a lot, mentally, with what’s going on and I’m still in a state of shock because I look upon Mark as a very trusting character, as a good man.

‘He adores his family, nothing was ever too much trouble for him and I can’t speak of the events that took place that day, I guess only Mark can.

‘But all I can say is what a wonderful grandfather he was to the grandchildren and he was my best friend. I had complete trust in him.’

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

Social services have since made contact with the family after the extent of their relationship was revealed.

Jasmine told the court: ‘Back here in England, what we call social services have contacted me and there will be involvement with the social services here in the UK.

‘I don’t know the rules as of yet as I’ve not met with the lady that’s going to come round and talk to me.

‘Obviously this case has hit England and it’s been made public knowledge to pretty much the entire world.

‘I can’t speak on behalf of what the conditions will be like here back in England because the social services have their duties of care so unfortunately I can’t speak solely on that.

‘However, as I’ve said, I’ve never felt fearful of Mark prior to this or felt unsafe and he’s been great with the grandchildren.’

Two women are said to have told Gibbon they had called police which made him stop the attempted drowning, and he was taken into custody.

A witness told officers she ‘observed him push the victim under the water and hold her there multiple times’ and watched as he ‘scratched her on her chest’, according to US website People.

Detectives gave Ms Wyld’s perspective of the pool incident in their arrest report: ‘She advised that she could not breathe and believed that she was going to drown.

‘[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.’

Judge Jalal Harb said: ‘Quite frankly, her testimony is of great concern to this court.

‘Her testimony to this court is not nearly consistent with what she reported to The Sheriff’s Office. The testimony that was provided by her young daughter contradicts her testimony to this court.’

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