A man had taken four drug overdoses after appearing on the Jeremy Kyle show, an inquest has heard.

Steve Dymond, 63, is believed to have killed himself 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 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.

“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 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.

READ MORE: Live updates from inquest into Jeremy Kyle guest's death

When Mr Dymond was assessed by the acute mental health team, he had “suicidal thoughts” but denied “any concrete plan”.

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: “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.

He insisted the letter was not specifically for The Jeremy Kyle Show and denied having detailed knowledge of the programme.

“Believe me I had absolutely no knowledge about this show at all,” he said.

Mr Dymond had been assessed as “low risk” the court heard.

Pressed on why he did not make reference to Mr Dymond’s suicidal history in the letter when questioned by Neil Sheldon KC, representing Mr Kyle, the GP said: “I wrote that he had a history of depression.”

Mr Sheldon replied: “You wrapped all that information up into the comment in the letter that he had a history of low mood and depression?”

Dr Rehman said he was asked to write that Mr Dymond was feeling better and not taking medication.

The hearing continues.

The Samaritans can be contacted on 116123 or email jo@samaritans.org.