A grandad who struck up a secret romance with his daughter-in-law has walked free from court after allegedly trying to drown his lover. The love triange has reportedly sparked chaos within the family since it began
A row between a grandad and his age-gap girlfriend – who also happens to be the mother of his son’s children – nearly turned deadly.
Mark Gibbon, a Brit who struck up a relationship with his 33-year-old daughter-in-law, has reportedly walked free after allegedly trying to drown his lover on holiday. The pair became embroiled in a drunken row over the man’s will in the pool at a high-end resort in Florida.
The wealthy lighting engineer, who has worked on music videos for the likes of Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith, allegedly pushed Jasmine Wyld’s head under water numerous times which prevented her from breathing, and gave her scratches and bruises.
Heartbreakingly, Jasmine’s nine-year-old daughter is said to have jumped in the pool to save her mum from the 62-year-old grandad. Gibbon allegedly only stopped after holidaymakers next door said they had called the police. He was arrested on 3 August and charged with attempted murder.
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But now the man from Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, has apparently been freed by a court in the US and is likely already back on home soil. The attempted murder charge was downgraded to battery by strangulation, with the love rat reportedly admitting to one count of battery under a plea deal and paying $1,308.68 (£992) in costs. He won’t serve any prison time.
A police report from the alleged attack states that Wyld “advised that she could not breathe and believed that she was going to drown”. She allegedly had to fight Gibbon in order to get away from him and from under the water but “he kept pushing her back under”.
But a bizarre twist came in the case against Gibbon when Wyld, who is reportedly still in a relationship with her father-in-law, begged prosecutors to free him. The mum told the court that he was a “good man” who “adores his family”. Astonishingly, she said: “I have complete trust in him. He’s my best friend.” Had Gibbon’s case gone further, he could have faced up to 15 years in prison.
In a statement, prosecutors from Polk County said: “The defendant in this case was charged with battery for repeatedly dunking the victim’s head below water in a swimming pool during an argument.
“The victim was consulted regarding the resolution of this case. 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.”
Wyld had been engaged to Gibbon’s 34-year-old son, Alex, but they separated in 2021. In February 2024, Alex was handed a two-year prison sentence back in Britain after he drove an £80,000 Porsche towards his dad during a heated argument. Alex and his dad previously ran a business together but now they are said to be estranged.
He pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving and harassment without violence. He was sentenced to two years’ in prison and given a three year driving ban, as well as a five year restraining order.
A source told the Daily Mail of the incident: “There was a big argument between Alex and his father in the street. Alex had had enough and got into his car to try and drive away but Mark got in front of the vehicle to stop him from leaving. Alex shouted to him to ‘get out the way’ but Mark continued to obstruct him and was hit by the car as a result.”
Another insider, who is close to the family, also told the publication that before the car incident, Alex once caught Wyld in his dad’s bed, which resulted in a ‘massive row’. Although there is nothing to suggest that there was an improper relationship between Gibbon and his daughter-in-law while she and Alex were engaged, after the couple broke up, the dynamic is said to have become complicated.
“About four years ago there was a big fall-out. Alex had been working away and came back to his family home one weekend to find the place empty,” the source said. “He couldn’t reach Jasmine by phone but even back then he had his suspicions about her and his dad.
“So he drove from the family home where his dad lived and found her car parked outside. Alex had keys to his dad’s house because he used to live there too and, as he went in, he saw Mark standing in the kitchen. 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. They had a massive row. Jasmine said she had gone on a night out with friends the previous evening and dropped the kids around at Mark’s to babysit. She decided to head to Mark’s after, rather than go home, but during the evening she wandered into the wrong room by mistake.”
Gibbon split from his wife and now lives alone in a £800,000 semi-detached home in Beaconsfield. But Wyld has been spending more and more time at the property with her two children, according to neighbours and family sources.
And in a bitter blow to Alex, who shares two children with his ex, Gibbon and Wyld flaunt their relationship by going on regular holidays together with the kids.
In 2023, the controversial pair travelled to Florida and Budapest, with Wyld “posting pictures of them together like a couple”. The grandad has also posted images of them all together including a precious snap of the family visiting a pumpkin patch before Halloween last year.
One source said: “There have been a number of issues within the family. He (Alex) 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 added: “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.”
Speaking of their shock after Gibbon’s arrest, one neighbour 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.”
Wyld, a hairdresser, said that social services back in the UK have got in touch with her following the alleged attack. She 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.”
