Jeremy Kyle show guest ‘felt thrown under bus’ before death, inquest hears
3 September 2024, 17:32 | Updated: 3 September 2024, 17:37
A man who died of an overdose after appearing on the Jeremy Kyle Show felt “thrown under the bus” by the programme, an inquest has heard.
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Steve Dymond, 63, was found dead at his Portsmouth home in May 2019, just seven days after appearing on the controversial show.
As part of the ITV programme, Dymond took a lie detector test in a bid to prove he had not cheated on his ex-fiance Jane Callaghan, the episode was never aired.
Winchester Coroner's Court heard on Tuesday that Mr Dymond died at his home of a combination of morphine overdose and left ventricular hypertrophy in his heart.
Carl Woolley, son of Mr Dymond, gave evidence at the start of the hearing and said his father felt “thrown under the bus” by the show.
"My father was crying as he told me he had been on The Jeremy Kyle Show and that he had been deemed a liar right from the start," Mr Woolley said.
"He said he had been 'taken for a mug' and 'pounced on' by the presenter."
In his statement, Mr Woolley said he had told his father: "What did you expect going on a show like that?" But his father told him "he hadn't realised he would be made a mockery of".
"He told me he was 'made out to be a baddie'... and that no one had given him any chance to put his point across, and that Jeremy Kyle was constantly 'on him'. He said he felt he 'was thrown under a bus'."
He added that his father "was very upset, saying he was being called a liar, everyone had jumped on him, (he was) not with it at all".
Mr Woolley added he believed Jeremy Kyle “egged” the crowd on against his father and “cast him as a liar” before the show had even started.
On May 6 2019, Mr Dymond sent a WhatsApp to Ms Callaghan saying: "This will be the last time I say it, I was never, never ever unfaithful to you, in all the time we were together.
"I hope The Jeremy Kyle Show is so happy now, as to what they have done to me.
"I did lie about my past, but not about me being a cheat, I never ever did cheat on you.
"They are responsible for what happens now, I hope this makes good ratings for them, I bet they keep this quiet.
"Never did I cheat on you, never, never. My final words. I did try to explain to you, but you would not listen."
Extracts from a note he left for Ms Callaghan were read out in court in which Mr Dymond said: "I pushed and pushed for the Jeremy Kyle Show to prove to Jane I never ever did (cheat on her). But it all went wrong.
"I failed because I lied about my past. Now I have lost you forever."
There was no mention of Kyle himself in the letter.
Ms Callaghan said Jeremy Kyle was "a bit rude" to Mr Dymond when he appeared on the show.
Asked if she had any concerns over Mr Kyle's behaviour, she told the inquest: "Jeremy was a bit rude to Steve... about 'didn't trust him with a chocolate button' and this was before the results. So yeah, he didn't know Steve, didn't know nothing about him, so it was a bit horrible."
The court heard that Mr Dymond asked to speak with Ms Callaghan immediately after the show while they were still at the studio.
"He was just saying, begging me, saying it was wrong, it's not right, it's not the truth, it's wrong, it's wrong," Ms Callaghan said.
She added that the pair left the studio separately and that Mr Dymond later continued to protest his innocence. She said: "He just kept saying that it was wrong, the lie detector was wrong.
"He was speaking to his brother on his phone and he just kept saying 'it's all wrong, it's all wrong', and then he just left.
"I wasn't communicating with him really. After that I just wanted him out of my life."
The inquest is set to continue on Wednesday
