DAVENPORT, Fla. (TCN) — An English vacationer stands accused of trying to kill his 33-year-old daughter-in-law amid an argument about grandchildren.
On Aug. 3, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Solterra Resort on Pine Tree Trail to a report of a disturbance in a backyard swimming pool. The victim and witnesses claimed 62-year-old Mark Gibbon of Beaconsfield, England, attempted to drown his daughter-in-law.
According to the sheriff’s office, the victim told authorities “that she and Gibbon began arguing about his grandchildren while they were in the vacation rental home swimming pool.” Gibbon allegedly pushed and held his daughter-in-law’s head under water numerous times. Her 9-year-old daughter purportedly got into the pool and tried to stop the suspect from harming her mother. The victim reportedly said, “Gibbon only stopped after a pair of sisters from Ohio who were vacationing next door said that they called the Sheriff’s Office.”
Gibbon was arrested and charged with attempted second-degree murder and battery.
In a statement, 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.”
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