Jeremy Kyle Show guest Steve Dymond had taken four drug overdoses, inquest told

Steve Dymond, 63, from Portsmouth, is thought to have taken his own life seven days after filming for the ITV show in May 2019. He had taken a lie detector test for the programme after being accused of cheating on Jane Callaghan, from Gosport.

Winchester Coroner’s Court heard that Mr Dymond died at his home of a combination of morphine overdose and left ventricular hypertrophy in his heart.

Dr Amjad Rehman, a GP at the Rowner Health Centre in Gosport, Hampshire, told the inquest that he saw Mr Dymond on March 14, 2019. He said that Mr Dymond had suicidal thoughts and he made a “very urgent” referral to the acute mental health crisis team.

He said: “He was very depressed and said he was depressed for the last four weeks, he was separated from his partner for the last four weeks. He kept lying to her, was continually lying to his partner, that is why he left the house and was in bed and breakfast now.”

He added: “I examined him, he was very anxious, picking at his arm and he was very upset.

“He was telling me that he intended to walk in front of a moving car, I referred him to the acute mental health crisis team.”

Dr Rehman said that not all of Mr Dymond’s medical records connected to his mental health were available on his system at the time of the consultation.

But the inquest heard that he had been diagnosed with a depressive disorder in 1995 and he had taken overdoses on four occasions. The court was told that he had also attempted to cut his wrists in December 2002. He was also sectioned on September 22, 2005, and a mental health assessment found he was at “risk of suicide”.

Dr Rehman said that Mr Dymond’s case was referred back to the community health team under his supervision, because he was deemed to be of “low risk of suicide” and had been experiencing a “reactive episode” to his relationship breakdown.

He said that he saw Mr Dymond again on March 29 when he prescribed him the antidepressant Sertraline. Dr Rehman said that he was still reporting “off and on self-harm thoughts” but had no “plans to materialise them”.

The inquest heard that Mr Dymond saw a nurse practitioner on April 10, when he asked for a letter to say he was not depressed or taking anti-depressants so that he could go on a television show to take a lie detector test.

He had handed back the anti-depressants unused, but the nurse refused to write the letter.

Dr Rehman said that Mr Dymond then attended his surgery on April 29, “banged” open his door with his foot and “aggressively” asked for the letter “as a matter of life or death”.

The GP said that Mr Dymond’s mood and appearance had improved and agreed to write a letter reflecting this, but declined to say that he was not suffering from depression.

The letter read to the inquest said: “I write to confirm that Mr Dymond is registered with this practice.

“Mr Dymond has a history of low mood and depression but his mood has improved since he got back together with his partner.

“I saw him for review at the surgery today and his mood has improved and he is not taking any anti-depressants at this time. I hope you will find this information helpful.”

Dr Rehman said he knew Mr Dymond wanted to go on a TV show but did not ask for further details.

(Proceeding)