AN inquest jury has returned a verdict of suicide on a former beauty queen found hanged in a psychiatric hospital bathroom.

Carolyn Pick killed herself in April 2001 using a dressing gown cord after being convicted of trying to blackmail a former international soccer star.

The jury, which had heard how troubled Carolyn Pick bombarded the married celebrity with menacing letters and obscene tapes because of her mental condition, returned a verdict that she killed herself.

After being convicted of blackmailing the former international, who cannot be named for legal reasons, Pick was said to be terrified at the thought of being sent to prison when she was eventually sentenced.

The unemployed secretary, who entered beauty pageants in her younger days, had been remanded to St Luke's Hospital, in Middlesbrough, for assessment.

She suffered from a condition known as erotomania, in which people believe others to be in love with them, and suffered from psychotic behaviour.

Pick, 36, of Cairnsmore Drive, Lambton Village, Washington, had denied the blackmail allegations but a jury took less than 35 minutes to convict her following a trial at Newcastle Crown Court in October 2000.