A MAN has been cleared of trying to throttle a cabbie and threatening to kill him, at Burnley Crown Court.

Anthony Hyatt, 33, was found not guilty of making a threat to kill by a jury after a three-day trial. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on a charge of assault causing actual bodily harm, but the defendant was acquitted on the direction of Judge Michael Byrne after the prosecution offered no evidence.

Hyatt, of Bowness Road, Padiham, had denied the charges against him and told the jury he did not attack alleged victim Mohammed Ramzan. He was discharged from the dock.

Mr Ramzan, who works from St James' Street, Burnley, had told the jury he had been assaulted after picking up two fares in Burnley town centre in the early hours, last July. He was said to have had marks on his neck when seen by a medic 12 hours after the incident.

He claimed a man, said by the prosecution to be Hyatt, told him he was a Jew and said he was going to kill him and smash up the taxi.

The defendant was alleged to have been aggressive and swearing, to have struck Mr Ramzan, and to have snatched his ignition keys when the cab stopped on the Hargrove Arms car park, Padiham.

Mr Ramzan alleged the man he claimed was Hyatt told him he was going to sort him out, threw his radio down the road and put his hands around his throat and squeezed.

The cabbie told the jury he thought he was going to die and ran for his life, abandoning his taxi.

Giving evidence, Hyatt said he was not drunk and claimed Mr Ramzan became aggressive after a call from base. The defendant said he did probably swear at the driver, but he had gone out to enjoy himself and Mr Ramzan made the journey unpleasant.

Hyatt, whose mother was then landlady of the Hargrove Arms, said he didn't hit Mr Ramzan, didn't grab his keys, or throw his radio down the road. He said he did not phone Mr Ramzan's office as he did not know where he worked.

Hyatt, who said he had no Jewish blood and was actually Viking, said he suffered a condition like arthritis in his fingers and could not have put his hands around Mr Ramzan's neck.

The defendant said nothing he did could have been mistaken for an attack on the taxi driver.