The British mum who was nearly drowned to death (allegedly) by her father-in-law in a swimming pool near Disney World has begged authorities in the States to release him.
There was major plot twist in the story last week when it was revealed that Jasmine Wyld, 33, was actually in a secret relationship with her father-in-law, 62-year-old Mark Gibbon, that had been carrying on for years.
Jasmine was previously engaged to Mark’s son Alex, who she shares two children with.
While on holiday in Florida, Gibbon allegedly tried to drown Jasmine in front of her kids after an argument broke out. Apparently Jasmine was unhappy that they had been in a relationship for a few years and she was not named in his will.
According to police, Gibbon also ‘pushed away’ his nine-year-old granddaughter as she jumped into the pool to try and save her mum. He only stopped the attempted drowning after two witnesses told him they had called the police, and he was then taken into custody.
Newly-released court footage now shows Jasmine pleading for her father-in-law’s release, insisting he is a ‘good man’ who ‘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.’
Shags his son’s wife? Attempts to drown his daughter-in-law in front of the grandkids on holiday? Yep, definitely sounds like a family man to me.
Gibbon no longer speaks to his son Alex after he hit his dad with his Porsche after finding out about the relationship. Alex had caught Jasmine in his dad’s bed after he came home to find her belongings packed.
He drove straight away to his dad’s home in Beaconsfield, demanding to know where she was.
A friend told the Mail: ‘He asked him, “Where is she?” and, with a smirk on his face, [Mark] replied: “Why don’t you go and find her?”
‘Alex went up the stairs and found Jasmine in his father’s bed. Alex had a fight with his dad over it, and the police were called.’
A year later, another argument kicked off between the father and son, leading to Alex hitting Gibbon with his £80,000 Porsche Cayenne.
He was handed a two-year prison sentence and a five-year restraining order.
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.’
A witness told officers she ‘observed [Gibbons] 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 Wyld’s rundown 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.’
If I was a cynical man, I’d say that Jasmine is crapping her pants at the idea that Gibbons stands to lose a lot of money on this court case (American lawyers are expensive, you know), and that would be her childrens’ inheritance out the window. After all, this all kicked off because she was upset that he hadn’t put her in his will.
I could be wrong, though – maybe they really are a solid couple and she genuinely believes that his attempt to murder her was a one-off.
Either way, you have to feel sorry for the kids. Imagine everyone at school knowing that your granddad’s sleeping with your mum, and then tried to drown her at Disney World. Meanwhile your dad can’t do anything about it because he’s not legally allowed to be in their vicinity. Brutal stuff indeed. Here’s hoping social services sort it out.
For unreal footage of a Karen ruining her son’s wedding by freaking out at the bride’s vows, click HERE.
