DAVENPORT, FL – A vacationer from the United Kingdom is facing serious charges after allegedly attempting to drown his daughter-in-law during an argument at a resort rental home.
On Sunday, August 3, 2025, around 5:19 p.m., Polk County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a disturbance at a vacation home in the Solterra Resort on Pine Tree Trail in Davenport. Deputies were told the incident began with an argument in the backyard swimming pool.
According to the victim and witnesses, 62-year-old Mark Raymond Gibbon, of Beaconsfield, England, became enraged during a dispute about his grandchildren and repeatedly pushed and held his 33-year-old daughter-in-law’s head under water, preventing her from breathing.
The victim’s 9-year-old daughter jumped into the pool in an effort to stop the assault. Witnesses said Gibbon only stopped when two sisters vacationing at a nearby home shouted that they had called law enforcement.
Gibbon was arrested and booked into the Polk County Jail. He is charged with Attempted Second-Degree Murder and two counts of Battery.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd stated, “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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