Jeremy Kyle guest Steve Dymond died of morphine overdose, inquest told

Jeremy Kyle guest Steve Dymond was “extremely distressed” by his experience filming for the ITV show, according to documents released by his family’s lawyers.

A pre-inquest review has heard that the 63-year-old died of a morphine overdose and a heart problem at his home in Portsmouth, Hampshire, seven days after he had filmed for the daytime show.

He had undergone a lie detector test for the programme to show whether he had cheated on his ex-fiancee Jane Callaghan, from Gosport.

In submissions from Mr Dymond’s family, their counsel Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC states: “The lie detector test ‘result’ indicated that he was lying when he said he was faithful to his girlfriend, despite him being adamant that he had been faithful.

“Mr Dymond was extremely distressed by his experience at The Jeremy Kyle Show, a programme which has been described by a judge (when sentencing a former contestant) as ‘human bear-baiting’.”

The family also raise the role of Guy Heseltine and his firm UK Lie Test – contracted by ITV – for his role in the filming.

Ms Gallagher states: “In addition, without a detailed understanding of the arrangements made by The Jeremy Kyle Show and individuals working for, or with, the programme to protect the interests of vulnerable guests, it is unclear the extent to which certain aspects of Mr Dymond’s experience were aberrations, or the result of established policies or practices.”

She continues: “From the documents and information that have so far been disclosed to the family, it appears that Mr Heseltine may be subjected to criticism for his actions in the period prior to Mr Dymond’s death.”

Ms Gallagher also questions whether the video footage disclosed by ITV has been “polished” and states: “The family has concerns that the footage is polished and edited, and does not represent the totality of the footage that would have been recorded on all cameras on the day.”

The legal submissions also state that Mr Dymond suffered suicidal thoughts in the seven weeks prior to his death and state there are concerns over his care by Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust after his GP had stated his case was “urgent”.