Steve Dymond saw appearing on The Jeremy Kyle Show as a chance to prove to his partner that he had never cheated on her, an inquest has heard.
Jane Callaghan told Winchester Coroner’s Court that the pair met on a dating site in May 2017, broke up in February 2019, and then rekindled their relationship towards the end of March that year.
Giving evidence to the inquest, Callaghan said the plan from March 31, 2019 – when they rekindled their relationship – was to contact The Jeremy Kyle Show to sort a lie detector test.
“It was Steve’s idea and then we did talk about a private [lie detector test] one as well but we just thought Jeremy Kyle would be quicker,” she said.
Spearing asked: “The plan was to access the show so that Steve could do a lie detector test to prove… that he hadn’t cheated and that would satisfy your concerns and then you could move forward with your relationship?”
“Yes,” Callaghan said.
“We talked about it quite a lot,” she said, referring to going on the programme.
“He was very excited to go on there because he wanted closure. He wanted me to know that he had lied quite a lot but he hadn’t cheated on me.”
Callaghan told counsel for the inquiry Rachel Spearing that they saw it as an opportunity for a new start.
Their first application was successful, but he had to get proof that he hadn’t taken antidepressant medication recently.
Callaghan said she went with him to the doctor to get a note to confirm this.
When asked about his demeanour, she said he was “quite upset,” because he wanted to go on the show but the producers wouldn’t let him because of the antidepressant tablets.
Callaghan later told Maya Sikand KC — the lawyer representing Dymond’s brother and son — that she was confident that he had not taken any of the pills.
In further testimony, Callaghan said that Jeremy Kyle was rude and “very offensive” to Dymond when he appeared on the ITV show.
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Pall-bearers carry the coffin of Jeremy Kyle guest Steve Dymond during his funeral in 2019
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When asked by Spearing if she had concerns over Kyle’s behaviour towards Dymond, she said: “Jeremy was a bit rude to Steve… about [how he] didn’t trust him with a chocolate button and this was before the results. So yeah he didn’t know Steve, didn’t know nothing about him.”
She said that she departed the ITV studios separately and that Drymond kept saying that the lie detector was wrong.
“He was speaking to his brother on his phone and he just kept saying ‘it’s all wrong, it’s all wrong’, and then he just left.”
Later, Callaghan wiped her eyes with a tissue during proceedings, hearing extracts of messages and cards sent by Dymond.
Extracts from notes left for Callaghan said that Dymond “pushed and pushed” for the couple to appear on the ITV programme to “prove” that he had not cheated on her.
The note continued: “But it all went wrong. I failed because I lied about my past. Now I have lost you forever.”
Later, Neil Sheldon KC, the lawyer representing Jeremy Kyle, addressed Callaghan.
The barrister went through notes of calls held between Callaghan and Dymond and a producer from the Jeremy Kyle show.
The scene where the body of Steve Dymond was found on May 9, 2019
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Callaghan was noted as saying: “He thinks he failed the test because he failed the pre-questions.
“The night before the show, I did have a joint before, he had two puffs and that’s it. He needs to give us some space now.”
Sheldon pulled out another extract from the notes: “Everyone looked after us brilliantly, Jeremy was excellent,” which was said the day after they appeared on the show.
Sheldon asked several questions to Callaghan, such as: “Do you remember Mr Kyle telling Steve that he wanted to put the two of you together backstage so you could work out your problems?”; “Do you remember him inviting the audience to give Steve a round of applause as he left the stage?”; “Do you remember him sitting down backstage [with Callaghan and Dymond]… and telling everybody to calm down?”.
She answered “yes” to all of them.
The KC closed a section of questioning by asking: “There’s a consistent pattern before and after the show of Steve threatening to harm himself because he’s upset about the breakdown of the relationship with you, agreed?”
Callaghan responded: “Yes.”
Simon Antrobus KC, representing ITV, read messages between Dymond and Callaghan about “Arranging the best counselling around here,” referring to discussions he’d had with people in the Jeremy Kyle Show about arranging counselling.
The barrister continued: “Those messages conveyed he was interested in taking up counselling, and that it was being offered, and follow-up calls from ITV to press that.
“The producer was also trying to contact Jane when they couldn’t reach Steve.”
He closed his questioning by stating: “ITV were concerned to ensure he did get that counselling, but there came a point when he wasn’t answering calls to ITV.”