Says she discussed suicide outside St James' Park with lawyer in 2014

Family: Monica Montore, the mother of Jonas Gutierrez (both pictured yesterday), has claimed she considered taking her own life at St James' Park

The mother of former Newcastle star Jonas Gutierrez says she considered committing suicide at St James’ Park in protest at the club treating her son like a 'bad dog’ following his diagnosis with testicular cancer.

Gutierrez has brought a disability discrimination claim of around £2million after alleging the club deliberately left him out of the team to ensure he did not play enough matches to trigger a one-year contract extension.

The former Argentina international - who was released at the end of last season - says owner Mike Ashley and managing director Lee Charnley viewed him as a ‘liability’ because of his cancer, which he twice beat in less than a year following his initial diagnosis in October, 2013.

And, giving evidence in support of her son, Monica Montore said: ‘I was so distressed at what they had done to Jonas that I just wanted to take my own life at the club's door.

‘I was going to leave a letter to say what a terrible way they had treated Jonas.

‘He returns from his operation to have lost a testicle - from a hit on Newcastle's pitch... he returns from that operation and they throw him out like a bad dog.’ However, club chief Charnley has rejected Gutierrez’s allegations.

‘Even if we had wanted to influence team selection - which to be clear, we did not - this would have placed us in breach of our obligations under the manager’ s service contract,’ he said.

Ms Montore (second from right) said she was very upset with Newcastle officials about treatment of her son

Ms Montore (right) acts as a manager for her son, who she said was thrown out 'like a bad dog' by Newcastle

‘Moreover, the suggestion that our reason for influencing team selection was to avoid extending Jonas’ contract because he had cancer is offensive and untrue.

‘We had concerns at the very outset of Jonas’s renewed employment contract [in 2011] about his ability to retain his first team place for five years up to the age of 33.

‘Jonas then fell out of consideration for the first team before he was diagnosed with cancer, for sporting reasons due to the arrival of a number of new and technically better players at the club.

‘The fact of Jonas’s cancer had no influence whatsoever on our actions or decisions regarding Jonas at any time.’

Newcastle's managing director Lee Charnley also attended the employment tribunal of Gutierrez yesterday

Ms Montore said 'even expressing such thoughts looks extreme but I cannot deny that it happened'

Gutierrez is reported to be seeking around £2million in compensation from Newcastle in the tribunal

Meanwhile, Newcastle goalkeeper Rob Elliot admits he is surprised that the club were able to attract Rafa Benitez as their new manager with the team stuck in the relegation zone.

‘His experience speaks for itself. For him to come into our club it’s sort of unheard of so we need to make the most of it and get him there next year,’ he said.

‘He’s a very calming influence. Very tactical. He’s got us working a lot on the training pitch about shape and how he wants the team to play.’