A Jeremy Kyle Show guest suspected to have killed himself stopped taking anti-depressants in order to take the show's lie-detector test and told a researcher "I wish I was dead", an inquest hearing has heard.
Steve Dymond, 63, died around a week after taking a polygraph test on the confrontational daytime show, which was subsequently axed by ITV shortly afterwards.
At a pre-inquest review at Portsmouth Coroner's Court on Monday, barrister Caoilfhionn Gallagher, representing Mr Dymond's family, described him as an "exceptionally vulnerable" man.
He had stopped taking prescribed anti-depressants in order to take the lie-detector test, she told the court, and "after his cruel shaming he did not get the appropriate support from the aftercare team".
The inquest was told that the amount of time between the suggestion of Mr Dymond appearing on the show and the filming of the episode, which was never aired, was a "very short" 72-hour period.
"For a decision so potentially life-changing, there is no equivalent. There is no cooling off. You are jumped on very quickly," Ms Gallagher said.
Mr Dymond, a construction worker, was found dead in his room in Portsmouth on 9 May after splitting from fiancee Jane Callaghan.
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Following the recording of the episode just days earlier, he had been "put in a homeward-bound taxi within two hours of telling a researcher that he was really upset", the court heard.
He also said that "life was nothing without Jane" and "I wish I was dead, or words to that effect", Ms Gallagher said.
The barrister claimed Mr Dymond's family had seen "no evidence" that he was given any welfare checks by any qualified mental health staff.
"We presume this was left to a medically unqualified researcher," she said.
Ms Gallagher said the family has now requested internal ITV interview notes from Jeremy Kyle, the assistant producer, a researcher, and the aftercare and polygraph teams.
They have also asked for the unedited recording of the show, which ITV's barrister, Simon Antrobus, agreed to provide.
Mr Antrobus told the hearing that the show's Read More – Source
