Jeremy Kyle Show has been criticised for 'irresponsible' use of lie-detector tests by MPs
An executive producer of The Jeremy Kyle Show has been criticised as ‘irresponsible’ for using lie-detector tests on the programme.
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee chairman Damian Collins said show bosses should have known more about the accuracy of tests.
Tom McLennan, one of the executive producers of the show, told the committee: ‘We've always made it very, very clear to viewers and participants of the show that the lie detector is not 100 per cent accurate.’
But Mr Collins said: ‘If it wasn't for the lie-detector test, we might not be sitting here today.’
Machine operator Steve Dymond, 63, who was found dead in Grafton Street, Buckland, on May 9, took a lie-detector test while filming an episode of the ITV show to convince his fiance that he hadn’t cheated on her, but was told that he failed it.
The Jeremy Kyle Show was axed following Mr Dymond’s death.
Mr Collins added: ‘The disclaimer doesn't mean very much, does it? It's being presented as black and white... That's causing considerable distress.’
He said it was ‘astonishing’ that ‘you don't know itself what the range is, in terms of the likeliness of getting a true accurate reading.... I'm disappointed that you can't do that.’
Mr McLennan said he was ‘not a lie-detector expert’.
He added: ‘Jeremy did have a strong opinion about the lie detector. He's got very strong views.... He strongly believed in the tests.’