[Source: BBC Entertainment]

A guest on The Jeremy Kyle Show who took an overdose after appearing on the programme spoke of the TV host egging on the audience to “boo him”, his son has told an inquest.

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

The 63-year-old took a lie detector test for the show after being accused of cheating on his ex-partner, Jane Callaghan.

His son Carl Woolley told the inquest in Winchester his father felt he had been “cast as the liar”.

Mr Woolley said he and his father had not been in recent contact before his uncle Leslie Dymond rang to say his father was “very down”.

He told the inquest his father said the “lie detector had cast him as a liar, he said to me he wasn’t lying”.

He said his father told him he had been “telling the truth”.

He added Mr Dymond “was very upset saying he was being called a liar, everyone had jumped on him, (he was) not with it at all”.

When asked by counsel to the inquest Rachel Spearing who had “jumped on him”, Mr Woolley replied: “Jeremy Kyle had got the crowd to egg on, to boo at him and stuff, he was cast as the liar before he had even spoken.”

He told the inquest his father called him up to six times a day following the recording.

“He was OK at some points, but very down,” he added.

He said he tried to encourage his father to continue getting aftercare support from ITV.

He said: “He told me he was getting support and aftercare from the show’s counsellors.

“I explained to him he needed to get in contact with them and keep ringing them to get the aftercare that he needed.”

ITV aftercare

The inquest heard extracts from a note, read by Ms Spearing, which Mr Dymond left for his son.

In it he asked him “not to be mad” with him.

“I never ever cheated on Jane and that is what is tearing me to pieces and everyone thinks I am but I’m not a cheat. But I did tell her lies and I lied so much to Jane and that is why she didn’t believe me,” the note said.

Mr Dymond’s former partner Ms Callaghan gave her evidence on Tuesday afternoon.

She told the court the pair had met through a dating site in May 2017 and were together for about two years.

Ms Callaghan said the relationship ended as she had “just found out that he lied a lot about his past”.

Following the break-up, she said she received lots of voice calls and messages from Mr Dymond, adding he had been “very upset”.

The court heard on 16 February 2019, Mr Dymond sent a message to Ms Callaghan saying he “hates himself so much”.

Ms Callaghan told the court she had experience with lie detectors, as she had previously appeared on The Jeremy Kyle Show with her daughter.

She said it was Mr Dymond’s idea to go on the show to prove “he hadn’t cheated”.

After the test results came back inconclusive, he said it was because he had lied in the pre-show questions about his past.

Neil Sheldon KC, representing Jeremy Kyle, asked follow up questions to Ms Callaghan.

He asked if she felt there was a consistent pattern both before and after the show of Steve threatening to harm himself because he was upset about the breakdown in the couple’s relationship.

To which Ms Callaghan replied: “Yes.”

The inquest heard in Mr Dymond’s last text message to Ms Callaghan, sent on 6 May, he insisted he had “never, never ever” been unfaithful to her.

“I hope the Jeremy Kyle show is so happy now, as to what they have done to me,” he wrote.

“They are responsible for what happens now, I hope this makes good ratings for them.”

Mr Sheldon also asked Ms Callaghan if she remembered Mr Kyle inviting the audience to give Mr Dymond a round of applause as he left the set.

She replied: “Yes.”

‘Dangerous job’

In his statement, Leslie Dymond recalled how his brother was “very distressed and consumed” by what had happened when he appeared on The Jeremy Kyle Show.

“He repeated that he had the result of a lie detector test, which he did not agree with, pushed in his face, and (was) called a traitor, with the presenter and audience all heckling him.

“Stephen told me he had been at the point of collapsing at the studio but he was still heckled.

“He did tell me that the audience had booed him, that the presenter, Jeremy Kyle, had been in his face and that he had been followed when he left the stage with cameras and microphones being put in his face.

“He told me he was jeered and called a failure by the presenter.”

A pen portrait of Mr Dymond by his brother was also earlier read out to the hearing.

He described how, as a young man, Mr Dymond had been a “dedicated” RNLI crew member involved in rescues at sea.

“It was a dangerous job. They were very brave men and Stephen was one of them,” he said.

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

Coroner Jason Pegg explained the purpose of the inquest was not to “apportion civil or criminal liability” to any person involved.

The hearing continues.

If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this story, support and advice is available via the BBC Action Line.