Footballer started phone sex call, claims former beauty queen

A former beauty queen told a court yesterday of her amazement when a retired international footballer initiated a sexual telephone conversation with her.

A former beauty queen told a court yesterday of her amazement when a retired international footballer initiated a sexual telephone conversation with her.

Carolyn Pick, 36, took the witness box on the sixth day of her blackmail trial and said she had been treated like a "prostitute" during a second phone call during which he allegedly masturbated, after she sent him a picture of herself in a bikini.

When he first rang, in 1995, "the first thing he said was, 'Hello Carolyn,'" Ms Pick told the jury at Newcastle Crown Court. "Straightaway I recognised the voice and I couldn't believe it. I asked him, 'Did you get the photograph?' and he said, 'Yes'. I said, 'Do you like them?' and he said he liked the photographs very much and found them attractive.

"I said to him, 'Which do you like best?' and he said, 'The one in the bikini,' in a sexy come-to-bed voice. I tried to talk to him about my letters. I said I liked watching him playing football. I started talking about his football career. He said, 'Let's not talk about that shall we'. He said, 'So what are your fantasies?' I didn't know what he meant. He said, 'Do you like watching me?' and I said, 'Yes'. He said, 'Do you like feeling yourself when you are watching me on TV?' I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"He made it clear he wanted to have sex with me. He wanted me to say sexy things to him. He was egging me on. He was moaning very loudly with a sort of come-to-bed voice. I couldn't possibly make that up, it's embarrassing and unbelievable. If I made it up I would make it more believable."

She claimed the former footballer called again in January 1996, two months after the first conversation, and they had a similar conversation. She said: "He ended the call with these words that I will never forget. He said, 'I'm finished and I'll call you'. That really devastated me. I took it to mean he had finished masturbating."

The prosecution alleges Ms Pick blackmailed the exfootballer five months later by threatening to release a tape of their conversation to the press unless he was "very nice to her". Ms Pick, of Washington, Tyne and Wear, denies two counts of blackmail.

Although she felt used by the conversation, she said she still liked the ex-footballer.

The trial continues today.