Inset: Mark Gibbon (Polk County Jail). Background: Solterra Resorts in Davenport, Florida, where Gibbon allegedly tried to drown his daughter-in-law (Google Maps).
A 62-year-old man who was vacationing in Florida when he tried to drown his daughter-in-law during an argument over his will earlier this year will not serve any time behind bars.
Polk County Circuit Judge Michelle Pincket earlier this month ordered Mark R. Gibbon to be released on time served after he pleaded guilty to one count of battery as well as an additional lesser included offense, court records show.
Gibbon, who was visiting the U.S. from England, had initially been facing an additional count of attempted second-degree murder, but that charge was dropped as part of his plea agreement. He was also required to pay $1,308.68 in fines and fees.
As Law&Crime previously reported, the violent incident occurred Aug. 3 at the Solterra Resort on Pine Tree Trail in Davenport, Florida, which is less than 10 miles from Disney World.
Deputies with the Polk County Sheriff's Office responded to the resort after receiving a report about a "disturbance" in a backyard swimming pool at about 5:19 p.m., the agency said in a news release.
The victim and witnesses said Gibbon, who is from Beaconsfield, England, about 25 miles west of London, kept shoving the 33-year-old woman underwater during the fight. The family was together on vacation when Gibbon and his daughter-in-law had a quarrel about the "stipulations of his will," a probable cause arrest affidavit said.
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Gibbon allegedly "pushed her under the water and held her down multiple times," the complaint stated. She reportedly tried to get away, but he kept shoving her back down.
"She advised that she could not breathe and believed that she was going to drown," deputies 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."
It was at this point that the victim's 9-year-old daughter saw what was happening and "jumped into the pool" to her mother's defense, according to cops. The girl tried to get him to stop, but Gibbon allegedly pushed her away.
The victim saw some neighbors and yelled at them to call 911. Gibbon allegedly stopped when the neighbors said they were calling the sheriff's office.
Deputies arrived on scene and took Gibbon into custody. After receiving his Miranda warnings, he allegedly admitted to pushing his daughter-in-law underwater but said he did not intend to drown her. He claimed they were drinking when they got to talking about the will and she slapped him, which is what he said set off the skirmish.
The daughter-in-law reportedly suffered a couple of scratches.
"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," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at the time.
David Harris contributed to this report.
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