BRYONY GORDON: This week I suffered a horrific OCD episode that left me fearing I was a psychopath. This is how I dealt with it - after years of numbing my intrusive thoughts with drugs and alcohol
My husband had left for work, my daughter for school and I was alone in the house when my brain began to go to war on me.
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The Sun
21 minutes ago
- The Sun
Brit woman whose ‘father-in-law turn lover tried to drown her' pleads for release of ‘best friend' as he's denied bail
A BRIT woman has pleaded for the freedom of her father-in-law who has been denied bail after allegedly attempting to drown her. Mark Gibbon, 62, has been accused of attempting to murder Jasmine Wyld, 33, by repeatedly holding her head underwater in a pool during a vacation in Florida. 6 6 6 Mr Gibbon, a wealthy lighting engineer, is claimed to have struck a relationship with Ms Wyld - who was once married to his son Alex. Both of them have denied the claims. Ms Wyld, who is now back in the UK, broke her silence to speak about the Brit grandad, whom she described as her "best friend", The Times reports. Speaking to a court in Florida via video link, she said: "I have always felt very safe around Mark and him being around my two children. "This has only come as a bit of a shock to me ... I can only sing his praises for what a fantastic grandfather he is." Ms Wyld previously told prosecutors she "could not breathe" and feared "she would drown", according to the Polk County Sheriff's office. It was her nine-year-old daughter who is said to have leapt into the pool to try to "save" her mother. Police reports said Mr Gibbon's alleged attack left her with scratches and bruising. The Brit grandad from Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, has been charged with attempted second-degree murder and two counts of battery. Ms Wyld spoke in favour of a motion submitted by Mr Gibbon's lawyer, calling for his release from custody. However, a Judge denied the request and said that Ms Wyld's testimony contradicts the sworn statement she gave on the day of the alleged drowning. They added: "Quite frankly, her testimony is of great concern to this court." Officials at Polk County Prison, where Mr Gibbon continues to remain in custody, previously refused to comment on his detention conditions for safety reasons. Neighbours in Beaconsfield described Ms Wyld as the Brit granddad's "girlfriend" - and said she was often seen at his £800,000 semi-detached home. One neighbour told The Sun: "Everybody is shocked by this." Another, who said she was Wyld's friend, recalled: "Jasmine used to stay here a lot with the children. But I don't want to say much more because she is a friend of mine." Family insiders claim tensions erupted years ago when Gibbon's son Alex allegedly found Wyld in his father's bed. 'About four years ago there was a big fall-out,' one source the Daily Mail. 6 6 'Alex went up the stairs and found Jasmine in his father's bed. They had a massive row. It's torn the family apart… there's been so much bad blood between Alex and his dad.' Alex, 32, and Wyld separated in 2021 but share two young children. The feud deepened when Alex was jailed for driving an £80,000 Porsche Cayenne into his father during a public row. He was released six months ago, and father and son no longer speak. Gibbon, who also runs hairdressing business Sage Hairdressing, allegedly pushed Wyld underwater during the Florida row after telling her she was not the main beneficiary of his will. He reportedly admitted pushing her but denied trying to kill her, claiming they had both been drinking, she slapped him, and the situation escalated. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said: 'We expect vacationers to behave while they visit with us, just as we expect our life-long 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.' If convicted on all charges, Gibbon could face up to 20 years in jail. 6
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Suspect arrested after shooting at Texas Target kills at least three people
A gunman opened fire outside a Target store in Austin, Texas, on Monday, killing at least three people and injuring a fourth. The suspect, who fled the scene in a stolen car, is in police custody according to local officials. The name of the shooter has not been released, but was identified as a white 32-year-old man with a history of mental health issues, said Austin police chief Lisa Davis. An investigation into what unfolded in the Target parking lot and what may have contributed to this act of violence is still underway. Mental illness by itself is not a predictor of violence and only 5% shooting deaths in the US are committed by people with mental health disabilities, according to research from Columbia University's Department of Psychiatry. 'This is a devastating situation, and my heart is with the victims and their families,' Kirk Watson, Austin's mayor, said in a social media post. 'While this remains an active and ongoing investigation, what I'll say is that this was a sickening, cowardly act of gun violence.' The man, who authorities said had previously been placed on emergency detention holds due to his mental health, stole a succession of cars after the attack. The driver of the first car was reported to be one of the gunshot victims. After wrecking the first car, he stole another before being captured in south Austin after exiting the vehicle. He was tased by officers and was taken into custody, Davis said during a news conference. Police were called at 2.15pm local time and arrived within four minutes, according to Davis. Responding officers found three people who had been fatally shot in the Target parking lot. An Austin-Travis county emergency services spokesperson said first responders treated one person for unrelated injuries. 'This is a very sad day for Austin. It's a very sad day for us all and my condolences go out to the families,' she said. no information has been released about the victims and no motive has been identified. The shooting came amid back-to-school shopping ahead of the upcoming school year. 'We are devastated by the violence that occurred today at our store in Austin, Texas,' a spokesperson for Target Corporate said in an emailed statement issued to the Guardian. The company added that they are working with law enforcement to support their investigation and will also provide grief counseling and other resources to employees. 'Our hearts are with the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives, our team in Austin and all those impacted by this tragedy.'
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Sport's anti-doping laws are broken, says British athlete who believes she can prove it
Lizzy Banks, the former cyclist, has called for a major overhaul of the global anti-doping system following the 'psychological torture' of having a two-year ban upheld despite previously being cleared of cheating. Banks, 34, says that the World Anti-Doping Agency's (Wada) rules surrounding contaminated tests are 'not fit for purpose' and believes that the British, German and US anti-doping agencies 'all agree with her position' in demanding change. She has also accused Wada of inconsistent application of its own rules in the case of the 23 Chinese swimmers who were cleared by Chinese Anti-Doping (Chinada) to compete at the Tokyo Olympics despite testing positive for a banned substance. Banks's allegations come as it emerged that earlier this year the Malvern-born rider lost a year-long battle with Wada at the Court of Arbitration for Sport and has therefore had a two-year ban reinstated. Banks had last year became the first British athlete to successfully have a suspension overturned by UK Anti-Doping with a finding of 'no fault or negligence' after proving on the balance of probabilities that a positive test for the diuretic chlortalidone she had returned in the summer of 2023 was the result of contamination. Travis Tygart, the influential chief executive of the United States Anti-Doping Agency who also exposed Lance Armstrong's doping past, has long agreed that the current system is unfairly harming 'clean' athletes and backed Banks's call for change. 'While we do not know all of the specifics of the Banks case and cannot comment directly… unfortunately, we are very aware of the contamination issue and for years have been advocating for the Wada rules to change to be more fair and just so that truly innocent athletes are not caught in a system supposedly aimed at stopping intentional cheats,' he told Telegraph Sport. System is 'stacked' against athletes In an emotional interview with Telegraph Sport last May, Banks revealed that she had bankrupted herself in order to clear her name, and had been forced to retire from the sport because of the physical and mental toll it had taken on her, which included having 'suicidal' thoughts. Wada subsequently took Ukad and Banks to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with the Lausanne-based body in April ruling in the world governing body's favour. On Tuesday, Banks will publish a 13,000-word account of what she calls 'my harrowing ordeal of living through any athlete's worst nightmare' on her website. Telegraph Sport has seen a copy of the document. 'Wada spoke first at the tribunal,' she wrote. 'They opened by claiming that if the appeal was not upheld, this would be the end for sport and fair play. Not because they thought I was a doper, but because they didn't want athletes to be able to 'get away with' claiming contamination.' She felt that the Cas system was 'heavily stacked' against her. 'The hearing itself was one of the worst days of my life,' she wrote. 'I simply don't have the words to describe the horrifying experience.' Cas panels consist of three arbitrators, one chosen by Wada, one chosen by the defendant and a third member chosen by Cas who acts as president of the panel. Athletes are unable to pick anyone working at Wada-accredited laboratories, which Banks claims 'puts athletes on the wrong side of a profound bias in the arbitration process' since the majority of the world's leading anti-doping experts work at Wada-accredited laboratories. Wada refused to release Chinese scandal details Banks claims Cas allowed Wada to submit more than '600 pages' of extra evidence on the day after the hearing. She was also unhappy with the repeated use of the terms 'concrete evidence' and 'concrete findings' in reference to the evidential threshold, pointing out that neither is a requirement specified by the Wada code. Banks says Wada refused her disclosure request to see the Chinada files concerning the 23 Chinese swimmers who were cleared of doping offences on the grounds of contamination. Wada never appealed against Chinada's ruling. Banks also claims Cas denied a request to use an independent expert on contamination in anti-doping samples. In 2016, Professor Mario Thevis recommended a minimum reporting limit of 200ng/ml for all diuretics in order to avoid inadvertent positive tests because of pharmaceutical contamination. Banks's sample had tested positive for an estimated 70ng/ml of chlortalidon. She alleges that the evidence she had mounted in her original defence against the Ukad ban was routinely ignored, including the evidence from a hair sample which she had carried out. Banks experienced intense frustration at the continual delays, even while cases such as that of tennis player Simona Halep were expedited. She also characterises the behaviour of Wada's lead lawyer in the case, Ross Wenzel, who also oversaw the Chinese swimming case, as arrogant and high-handed, allegedly grinning while suggesting that he would be unavailable for a meeting to review new evidence as he would be 'on a golfing holiday'. Banks heard in April that Wada's request for her two-year ban had been upheld and that it would apply from that moment, minus the eight months and 29 days official period of provisional suspension she had already served. She eventually got it backdated so that it expired in May of this year. Anti-doping agencies urged to drive global change Banks says she does not have the money or the inclination to take the fight on any further. 'As the Swiss law itself describes, 'The grounds for setting aside an award are narrowly defined and exhaustive',' she writes. 'The reality is also that proving bias or dishonesty is incredibly difficult to do. If a wealthy expert in Swiss law who just so happens to be an expert in sports law wants to take it on and cover the costs, I would be more than happy for them to do so.' But she adds there 'must be consequences'. 'Just before publication of this article, a lawyer involved in the case, who wished to remain anonymous, said to me that: 'I had no firm views on Wada before your case but I was shocked and disappointed by the way they handled the entire process. It was entirely inappropriate. No regulatory body should ever treat anybody like that.' 'Can Cas and Wada really say that the penalty, which by the way was destruction of my career, my reputation, my identity, my health, my finances and inability to work for at least two years, was truly proportional to the 'offence'? Well what was the offence? Was it being an athlete of integrity who as the Cas described demonstrated the utmost care in her anti-doping responsibilities yet had the misfortune of being unknowingly exposed to an impossible to trace contaminant?' She concludes: 'The rules must be updated and modernised to reflect the scientific reality of contamination. We cannot have a system that allows the career of an athlete of integrity who has been found not to have cheated to end up in a position where they have no chance of defending themselves and no chance of receiving anything less than a two-year sanction. 'From both personal conversations and knowledge of other athletes' cases, I strongly believe that Ukad, British Cycling and the French, German and US anti-doping agencies all agree with my position.' A Wada statement said that it 'diligently prosecuted the appeal' based on the facts and rules. 'After a full and fair hearing at Cas, the panel agreed with Wada that the athlete had failed to establish, on the balance of probabilities, how the substance came to be in her system,' said the statement. 'Establishing origin is a mandatory requirement of 'no-fault or negligence' decisions such as the one agreed by Ukad. The principle of strict liability is crucially important to uphold fairness in sport. Without it the anti-doping system would be inoperative'. They also argued that the case of the Chinese swimmers was not comparable. 'Every case is different, and each must be considered on its own individual merits,' said the statement. 'In the Chinese case, origin was established, based on specific factual and scientific evidence.'
