British tourist ‘tried to drown daughter-in-law in Florida pool’

A British holidaymaker has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly trying to drown his daughter-in-law in a row over his will.

Mark Gibbon, 62, from Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire, was on a family holiday at Solterra Resort in Davenport, near Disney World, Florida, when the pair began arguing about “the stipulations of his will”, US police said.

He was charged with attempted second-degree murder and two counts of battery.

Mr Gibbon allegedly pushed the 33-year-old “under the water and held her down multiple times”, according to a probable cause arrest affidavit.

His nine-year-old granddaughter “jumped into the pool” to try and save her mother but Mr Gibbon allegedly pushed her away.

“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.”

The victim called for neighbours and shouted for them to call the police. He is said to have only stopped when neighbours said they were calling the authorities.

Mr Gibbon is a lighting technician, who runs his own firm called MRG Lighting.

He has worked on music videos for Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and Paloma Faith, according to his website, as well as on film and TV sets.

US police said Mr Gibbon allegedly admitted to pushing his daughter-in-law underwater, but said he did not intend to drown her.

The victim reportedly suffered a couple of scratches.

He claimed they had been drinking before they began discussing the will.

He alleged his daughter-in-law had slapped him, which sparked the fallout.

The suspect was taken into custody on Aug 3 at 5.19pm.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said: “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.”

Mr Gibbon is being held at Polk County Jail without bond. His next court date is scheduled for Sept 9.

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