The Scotsman

Jeremy Kyle guest ‘concerned’ by show before his suicide

- By THOMAS HORNALL

A Jeremy Kyle Show guest was found dead in his rented room in a susp ected suicide after “growing concerned about the repercussi­ons of the show”, an inquest has heard.

S t e v e D y m o n d , 6 3 , d i e d around a week after repor tedly failing a love - cheat lie - detector test on the confrontat­ional daytime programme, which has since been axed.

T h e c o n s t r u c t i o n wo r ke r was found in his room in Portsmouth on 9 May after splitting from on-off fiancee Jane Callaghan, Portsmouth Coroner’s Court heard.

His death comes amid growing scrutiny over the dut y of care reality TV shows have to participan­ts.

Detective Sergeant Marcus Mills, of Hampshire Police, told the inquest opening yesterday that Mr Dymond was living in the property of a pair called Michelle and Sam, and had moved in on 10 February.

H e s a i d : “S t e ve n h a d t o l d Michelle and Sam he had been in a relationsh­ip with a female named Jane.

“They had split up and he h a d b e e n k i c ke d o u t o f t h e house following allegation­s he had been cheating.

“Steven had also mentioned they were going to go on the Je r e my Kyl e s h ow f o r a l i e detector test to get everything sor ted. Steven told Michelle that things didn’t go well on the show. He became angr y when talking about Jane. He became concerned about the repercussi­ons of the show and the rumours that had started as a result.”

T h e I T V s h o w w a s a x e d after a 14-year run following the death of Mr Dymond, with Kyle saying he is “utterly devastated”.

M P s h a v e

l a u n c h e d

a n inquir y into realit y T V and watchdog Ofcom has revealed i t wi l l l o o k a t t h e u s e o f l i e detector tests on TV shows in the wake of the furore.

Mr D y mon d h a d r e c e n t l y been in touch with estranged son Carl and discovered he was a grandfathe­r, the hearing was told.

Two letters, one addressed to Carl and the other to Ms Callaghan, were discovered near his body alongside medication packets, DS Mills said.

He added: “There were no s i g n s o f f o u l p l ay f r o m a ny other parties. This was a suspected suicide.

“H e w a s k n o w n t o h a v e issues for his knee which he was on medication for.”

Results from a post-mortem are still awaited, the hearing was told.

No family or friends attended the hearing.

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