Inquiry to be held into death of Jeremy Kyle Show guest

The full inquest hearing into the death of Steve Dymond, who died of an overdose after appearing on the Jeremy Kyle Show, is set to begin on Tuesday.

Mr. Dymond, from Portsmouth, Hampshire, is suspected to have taken his own life seven days after filming for the ITV programme in May 2019.

He had taken a lie detector test for the show after being accused of cheating on his ex-fiancée, Jane Callaghan, from Gosport.

Mr. Dymond died of an overdose and heart problem at his home in Portsmouth, a previous preliminary hearing of the inquest was told in 2020.

The resumption of the inquest is to take place at Winchester Coroner’s Court.

Claire Overman, representing Mr. Dymond’s brother, Leslie Dymond, and son, Carl Woolley, told a pre-inquest review that Leslie Dymond said that his brother had been “incredibly stressed,” in tears, and on the “point of collapsing” after the recording.

Hampshire coroner Jason Pegg previously ruled that Jeremy Kyle had called Mr. Dymond a “serial liar” and said he “would not trust him with a chocolate button.”

Rachel Spearing, who has been appointed as counsel to the inquest, stated, “We will be reviewing Mr. Dymond’s participation in the show as far as it is relevant to his mental state, including the lie detector and the aftercare provided, and that involves the role of the production company and ITV.”

The coroner has said that the scope of the inquest would cover Mr. Dymond’s involvement with the ITV show and also his personal relationships.

Ms. Spearing told a pre-inquest review in April that the coroner had ruled the case would not be “a roving inquiry into practices of reality television.”

She said the inquest would primarily look at the circumstances of Mr. Dymond’s life between March 14, 2019, and May 9, 2019.

Ms. Spearing added, “The scope will review the deceased’s interaction with his GP and his acceptance and participation in the Jeremy Kyle Show.”

She reiterated, “We will be reviewing Mr. Dymond’s participation in the show as far as it is relevant to his mental state including the lie detector and the aftercare provided that involves the role of the production company and ITV.”

She added that Mr. Dymond’s history of mental health issues would also be examined.

Ms. Spearing mentioned that the inquest had access to footage from a Channel 4 documentary into Mr. Dymond’s death.

The coroner previously made Mr. Kyle an interested person to the inquest because “he may have caused or contributed” to Mr. Dymond’s death.

Other interested persons named during the hearing were members of Mr. Dymond’s family, ITV, and the deceased’s GP.

The inquest is listed to last until September 10.

Source: PA Media