Jeremy Kyle ‘may have caused death’ of guest who took drug overdose a week after taking a lie detector test to prove he hadn’t cheated on his fiancée, coroner says
- Hampshire Coroner decided to make Jeremy Kyle an ‘interested person’ in case
- Steve Dymond, 63, from Hampshire died in a suspected suicide in his bedroom
- His death came after he failed a lie detector test on the ITV show earlier this year
- For confidential support call the Samaritans in the UK on 08457 90 90 90
Jeremy Kyle ‘may have caused or contributed’ to the death of programme guest Steve Dymond, who is suspected to have committed suicide after failing a lie detector test on the show, a pre-inquest review has heard.
The preliminary hearing is being held into the death of the 63-year-old, who died of a morphine overdose and a heart problem at his home in Portsmouth, Hampshire, seven days after he had filmed The Jeremy Kyle Show last year.
He took a lie detector test on the programme to show whether he had cheated on his ex-fiancee Jane Callaghan, from Gosport.
Coroner Jason Pegg said he has made Mr Kyle an ‘interested person’ for the inquest, stating the presenter is someone ‘who may have caused or contributed to the death of Stephen Dymond’.
He added: ‘It might seem ludicrous not to have Mr Kyle to give evidence to give his take on the situation.’
Steven Dymond (left), 63, was said to have been left in tears and feeling suicidal after filming for Jeremy Kyle with his on-and-off girlfriend Jane Callaghan (right, with Mr Dymond)
Hampshire Coroner Jason Pegg said he had decided to make the presenter (pictured) an ‘interested person’ under the coroner’s rules in the case of Steve Dymond
Counsel for Mr Dymond’s family Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC told the Winchester hearing that Mr Dymond became ‘distressed’ after he failed the lie detector test.
She said Mr Dymond had gone on the show to ‘prove his fidelity’, and had said: ‘I pushed and pushed but it all went wrong.’
Ms Gallagher said after the result was announced during filming, the audience ‘booed and jeered’ at him and he was ‘called a failure by the presenter’.
She said Mr Kyle was ‘in his face’ and even when he was ‘at the point of collapsing, he was still being heckled’.
She said Mr Dymond sought to leave through a side door but found it locked, and she added: ‘He couldn’t escape the heckling. He was on his hands and knees because he thought he was going to pass out from the stress.’
Steve Dymond (pictured) took his life after appearing on The Jeremy Kyle show where he failed the ‘lie-detector test’
Ms Gallagher said his state of mind was known by the crew on the show, with a message sent on a WhatsApp group stating: ‘Just so you know, he’s still crying, he has just said he wishes he was dead. Just giving you the heads up.’
Ms Gallagher added: ‘While he was still on the programme, within minutes, he was talking about wishing he was dead.’
She said Mr Dymond called his brother as he was taken home by taxi from the show.
In a statement read to the hearing, Leslie Dymond said: ‘He seemed completely broken and frightened and told me he couldn’t go on living.’
The hearing was told Mr Dymond was originally turned down to appear on the show but was accepted as a guest after gaining a letter from his doctor.
The inquest has heard he had been receiving mental health care from Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust.
Mr Dymond’s death in May 2019 was caused by a morphine overdose and left ventricular hypertrophy, which is when the left chamber of the heart is not pumping properly, the inquest has heard.
The hearing continues.
- For confidential support call the Samaritans in the UK on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here for details.