A Jeremy Kyle Show guest who died after filming an episode of the programme had spoken to medics about having suicidal thoughts in the weeks beforehand, an inquest has been told.
Steve Dymond, 63, was found dead at his home in Portsmouth, Hampshire, in May 2019 – seven days after failing a lie detector test during filming for the ITV programme.
He had been accused of cheating on his ex-fiancee. He hoped to show her this was not true and believed a test on the Jeremy Kyle programme would prove this.
On the second day of a full inquest into his death, Winchester Coroner’s Court heard Mr Dymond died of a combination of a morphine overdose and left ventricular hypertrophy in his heart.
He had been diagnosed with a depressive disorder in 1995 and taken overdoses on four previous occasions – in January 1995, twice in December 2002, and April 2005 – the hearing was told.
The court heard he also made another apparent suicide attempt in 2002.
He was sectioned in September 2005, and a mental health assessment then found he was at “risk of suicide”.
The Jeremy Kyle Show was cancelled following Mr Dymond’s death. Pic: Channel 4/ITV/Shutterstock
The interactions with medics before show filming
Dr Amjad Rehman, a GP at the Rowner Health Centre in Gosport, Hampshire, saw Mr Dymond on 14 March 2019, the inquest heard.
Mr Dymond told him of suicidal thoughts, he said, so he made a “very urgent” referral to an acute mental health crisis team.
“He was very depressed and said he was depressed for the last four weeks, he was separated from his partner for the last four weeks,” Dr Rehman told the court. “He kept lying to her, was continually lying to his partner.”
The doctor said he examined Mr Dymond, who “was very anxious, picking at his arm, and he was very upset”.
Not all of the patient’s medical records connected to his mental health were available on his system at the time of the consultation, Dr Rehman told the court.
An assessment by the acute mental health team found he had “suicidal thoughts” but denied “any concrete plan”, the inquest heard.
The inquest into Mr Dymond’s death has heard about his history of depression
The review said he wanted “to get help with being a compulsive liar and get help with being a narcissist”. It was concluded there was not an “enduring mental health illness present”, the inquest was told.
Dr Rehman said Mr Dymond’s case was referred back to the community health team, under his supervision, because he was deemed to be of “low risk of suicide” and had been experiencing a “reactive episode” to his relationship breakdown.
He saw Mr Dymond again just over two weeks later, on 29 March 2019, and prescribed him the antidepressant Sertraline.
At that time, he was still reporting “off and on self-harm thoughts” but had no “plans to materialise them”, Dr Rehman told the court.
On 10 April 2019, Mr Dymond saw a nurse practitioner and asked for a letter to say he was not depressed or taking anti-depressants. This was so he could go on a television show to take a lie detector test, the court was told.
The anti-depressants had been returned, unused, but the nurse refused to write the letter.
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Mr Dymond attended Dr Rehman’s surgery again on 29 April 2019. On this occasion, he “banged” open his door with his foot and “aggressively” asked for the letter “as a matter of life or death”, the GP said.
He told the court he felt Mr Dymond’s mood and appearance had improved and so agreed to write a letter reflecting this, but declined to say he was not suffering from depression.
“Mr Dymond has a history of low mood and depression but his mood has improved since he got back together with his partner,” the letter said.
“I saw him for review at the surgery today and his mood has improved and he is not taking any anti-depressants at this time. I hope you will find this information helpful.”
Dr Rehman said he knew Mr Dymond wanted to go on a TV show but did not ask for further details.
Asked if it was “not pertinent” to mention a history of suicidal thoughts in his letter, the GP replied: “I could have mentioned that but the mental health team did not say that he was suicidal.”
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Final message to ex heard on first day
Mr Dymond was found dead on 9 May 2019, a week after filming for The Jeremy Kyle Show.
Following his death, the episode was never aired and the series was later cancelled by ITV.
The inquest opened on Tuesday, with Mr Dymond’s ex-fiancee Jane Callaghan and Mr Dymond’s son, Carl Woolley, giving evidence.
Details of Mr Dymond’s final message to Ms Callaghan were also read in court.
He also left a note for Mr Woolley, the inquest heard. There was no mention of Kyle or the show in the note.
The hearing continues.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK