A British businessman accused of trying drown his daughter-in-law in a swimming pool in Florida was in romantic relationship with her, the Daily Mail can reveal.
Mark Gibbon, 62, from Buckinghamshire, has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly holding Jasmine Wyld’s head under water during a row over his will.
His nine-year-old granddaughter was allegedly forced to fight him off to stop him drowning her mother in a pool on their American holiday.
Meanwhile, Ms Wyld separated from Gibbon’s son Alex, with whom she shares two young children, in 2021.
‘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.
‘Mark and Jasmine do an awful lot together and they go away on holiday with the children a couple of times every year.
‘She is always round at his house. She has a place of her own but she’s nearly always in Beaconsfield with Mark.
‘They went to Florida two years ago and have been to Budapest where she posted pictures of them together like a couple.
‘I don’t know for sure what happened on this holiday and why Mark has apparently tried to drown her.
‘But I have been told that Jasmine was unhappy that they have been in a relationship for a few years and she is not named in his will.’
Gibbon runs a successful lighting firm called MRG Lighting and has worked on television and film sets, as well as on music videos for Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and Paloma Faith.
He owns a smart semi detached house in Beaconsfield, which he bought in 2023.
Set up in 2023, MRG Lighting Limited had reserves of £122,600 in its first year of trading.
But another of his businesses Ultralight UK Limited has seen its fortunes slide recently. Two years ago it had cash reserves of £577,618. But by March last year it was £152,060 in the red.
Gibbon also runs a fledgling hair salon called Sage Hairdressing Limited, set up in July 2024.
The source added: ‘Mark is worth about £800,000 and he is leaving everything to his grandchildren. He’s a successful businessman, who runs his own company and owns his own home. His will has caused some tension in the family.’
Alex, 34, had worked with his father and was appointed a director with Ultralight UK Limited in 2019. He was involved in the production of The Queen’s Christmas Day speech a few years ago. However, he left the company in 2023 and is said to have had a blazing row with his father in the street afterwards.
According to the family source, he attempted to drive away but his father jumped in front of him to stop him and was hit by the car. Alex served time in prison and was released six months ago.
His father regularly holidays with Ms Wyld and his two grandchildren.
The pair travelled together with the children – but no other relatives – to Florida together in 2023 and visited Budapest in Hungary last December.
Ms Wyld – who has since returned back home from the U.S – has posted several photographs of her with her father-in-law on trips abroad.
He has also posted images of them all together including a treasured snap of the family visiting a pumpkin patch before Halloween last year.
Ms Wyld has been spending an increasing amount of time staying over at his house with the children, says the family source.
Neighbours in Buckinghamshire today told of their shock.
One said: ‘When I read that he’d been arrested on suspicion of attempting to drown his daughter-in-law I just couldn’t believe it.
‘She spends a lot of time at his home with her children and Mark absolutely dotes on his grandkids. They go on holiday together regularly and are with each other a lot.
‘He’s a lovely guy – or so it seems to us – I didn’t think he was capable of such a thing. He’s never displayed any anger or violence while living here.’
According to Polk County Sheriff’s Office in Florida, Mr Gibbon had shoved Ms Wyld’s head under the water of the pool following a row last Sunday and pushed his granddaughter away when she jumped in to stop him.
He allegedly only stopped the attempted drowning when two neighbouring sisters saw what was happening and shouted over that they had called the Sheriff’s Office.
He was taken into custody around 5.19pm on August 3 and is understood to have told police he had been drinking and admitted to pushing his daughter-in-law under the water but denied trying to drown her.
According to a police report Ms Wyld ‘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.’
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 has been charged with attempted second-degree murder and battery. He is next due in court on September 9.
