THE suicide of a Jeremy Kyle guest was not linked to his appearance on the TV show, a coroner ruled today.
Steve Dymond, 63, was discovered dead at his home in Portsmouth, Hampshire, a week after filming the ITV show in May 2019.
Steve Dymond died a week after appearing on the showSolent
Jeremy Kyle gave evidence at the inquestSolent
He had failed a lie detector test after trying to prove he hadn’t cheated on his ex-fiancee Jane Callaghan.
An inquest into his death found there was an “absence of reliable evidence” that the events on the show directly led to his death.
Hampshire coroner Jason Pegg also concluded there was “insufficient evidence” that Kyle contributed to Steve’s adverse mental state.
Ruling a verdict of suicide, he said: “Having considered the evidence carefully there is an absence of reliable evidence that demonstrates that Steven Dymond’s appearance on the Jeremy Kyle Show probably caused or contributed to his death. To do so would be speculative.
“I am not satisfied that events on Jeremy Kyle Show gave rise to a clear link that caused or contributed to the death of Steven Dymond such that I should be recording this as a contributing factor.
“Steven Dymond had a history of a diagnosed personality disorder and mental illness which presented on a number of occasions before any appearance of the Jemery Kyle Show and resulted in Steve Dymond self-harming or displaying thoughts of suicide.”
Speaking after the ruling, a spokesperson for Jeremy Kyle said the coroner “clearly and unequivocally” found that he “did not in any way cause or contribute to the tragic suicide of Steve Dymond”.
The statement added: “He is now exonerated of that ill-informed accusation and his name has finally been cleared.
“Out of respect for the family of Mr Dymond and the judicial process, Jeremy has always maintained that it would be inappropriate to discuss details whilst the legal inquest was ongoing and he has remained steadfastly silent in the face of lies, false accusations and unfair criticism over the last five-and-a-half years.
“This has taken a huge toll on him and his family and he would like to thank everyone who has truly supported him through these tough times.”
The inquest was told Steve died from combination of an overdose and left ventricular hypertrophy – thickening of the heart – on May 9, 2019.
He had called his son Carl Woolley on the day of filming and was “very upset”.
Steve was adamant he had been telling the truth when he took the lie detector test on the show, the court was told.
Carl said his dad remained upset in the days that followed and would call him up to six times a day.
As a result, he begged his dad to continue getting after-care support from ITV.
During his own evidence, Kyle defended his approach to the way he presented his show.
He said: “I think that people who came on the show – I think the show had been on air for 15 years – and I believe the approach for conflict resolution was always the same.
“Yes, it was direct, but it was empathetic, it was honest.”
Referring to Steve’s appearance, he said he “de-escalated” and “calmed” the situation after the dad failed the lie detector.
Kyle added: “That’s what I always believed the show was about – conflict resolution.”
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