RELATIVES of a former beauty queen who committed suicide after being convicted of blackmailing a famous footballer have dropped their bid to clear her name.

Carolyn Pick, 36, was granted leave to appeal against her conviction a day after she was found hanging in her hospital ward.

She had been detained for treatment following her Newcastle Crown Court trial six months earlier for blackmailing the former footballer.

The Court of Appeal has confirmed that the case had been terminated.

A spokesman said leave to appeal was granted, but a hearing had not been fixed.

The case was placed on the finished cases list earlier this month.

Pick was found guilty after a stalking campaign against the player, in which she sent photographs of herself in a bikini, sent him lurid sex tapes and visited his home.

In one of her tapes, she was heard prophetically telling the star: "I have decided I'm going to appear even when I'm dead. I'm going to haunt you."

After her conviction in October 2000, Pick was placed in a secure hospital unit at St Luke's, in Middlesbrough, and her sentence was delayed for further psychiatric tests.

But just before she was due to appear in court, Pick, from Washington, Wearside, was found dead.