Jeremy Kyle arrives to give evidence at inquest into death of chat show guest

Steve Dymond, from Portsmouth, Hampshire, is believed to have taken his own life seven days after filming for the Jeremy Kyle Show in May 2019.

The 63-year-old had taken a lie detector test for the programme after being accused of cheating on his partner, Jane Callaghan, from Gosport, Hampshire.

On Thursday, the inquest was told that after filming had finished, Mr Dymond had told a researcher: “I wish I was dead.”

Winchester Coroner’s Court also heard Mr Dymond had said: “Life is nothing without Jane.”

The court was told the aftercare team called Mr Dymond the day after the show and exchanged text messages, with him saying: “I give you my word I will stay positive.”

Mr Dymond died at his home from a combination of morphine overdose and left ventricular hypertrophy in his heart.

Mr Kyle arrived at court on Thursday morning to give evidence to the inquest.

Mr Dymond had rung ITV 40 to 50 times in “desperate” attempts to become a guest on the show, the inquest previously heard.

He had been diagnosed with a depressive disorder in 1995 and had taken overdoses on four occasions – in January 1995, twice in December 2002 and in April 2005, the court was told.

It also heard he had attempted to harm himself in December 2002.

Simon Antrobus KC, representing ITV, told the hearing that Mr Dymond had admitted “on numerous occasions” after the test results were revealed that he had lied in his response to lie detector questions not related to Miss Callaghan.

He added: “His lies were numerous in nature to cheating on a partner, a description of a tall ships race and recreational drug use and not going to prison.”

Chris Wissun, director of content compliance at ITV at the time, previously told the hearing that Mr Dymond’s first application to the show had been rejected because he had disclosed that he had been diagnosed with depression and prescribed anti-depressants.

After he returned to the witness box on Thursday, the court was shown video clips of Mr Dymond being advised about the processes of the lie detector test.

In the video, Mr Dymond asks the polygraph examiner, who was contracted by ITV to carry out the procedure, whether the test is “99.9% accurate”, to which the examiner replies “They are 95% accurate” with a “narrow risk of error”.

The examiner also advises Mr Dymond that “if you fail one question, you fail the lot”.

The clips also show Mr Dymond watching a video informing him about the test which advises the participant to be “truthful, open and honest”.

Mr Wissun said: “This was a very well-established editorial feature of the programme.

“The result of the test would be given by the polygraph examiner to the producer.

“The producer wouldn’t reveal the results to the presenter, the results would be given to him during the programme.

“He would open the envelope and reveal the results and tell the guests what the results were.

“There was an element of drama in that moment.”

Mr Wissun said that a researcher had called Mr Dymond the day after the recording to tell him that counselling was being arranged for him and added: “Sadly because of Mr Dymond’s death that didn’t go ahead.”

The inquest heard that one member of the show team sent a message to a colleague about Mr Dymond during the filming day, saying: “Could be emotion in this part, he has tears in his eyes, LOL.”

Nick Sheldon KC, representing Mr Kyle, asked Mr Wissun if he had seen any evidence that the presenter had been asked to “modify his approach or presenting style” when dealing with Mr Dymond.

Mr Wissun replied “No” and also agreed with Mr Sheldon’s suggestion that Mr Kyle was “very responsive to guidance of that sort”.

Mr Wissun previously said a producer had created a draft headline for Mr Dymond’s first application on April 9 which read “Missing Viagra and lies about being in the Navy, are you a cheat?”

He said the subsequent letter from Mr Dymond’s GP, requesting to support a second application, was a “very unusual circumstance”.

He added that Mr Dymond had been given a one-to-one assessment despite the receipt of the GP’s letter.

Mr Wissun said the lie detector test was not offered to anyone currently diagnosed with depression and added: “The lie detector test was a feature of the show which had been used by the show throughout its run.

“Quite a lot of potential guests applied to come on the show specifically to take a lie detector as Mr Dymond did.”

The witness previously told the inquest he was informed that Mr Kyle was “very receptive” to advice from the aftercare team about whether he needed to adapt or soften his presenting style for particular guests.

He said it was a “very important” part of guest welfare processes that guests were giving “informed consent” to take part and that they “understood the nature of the format and also the style of the presenter”.

– The Samaritans can be contacted on 116123 or email jo@samaritans.org.