A TAXI driver has been cleared of raping a passenger after his trial at Bolton Crown Court dramatically collapsed today.

Faizal Mohamed was accused of barging his way into a woman’s home in Deane in the early hours of New Year’s Day 2016 and raping her.

A jury of eight men and four women were sworn in yesterday and heard the woman, in her 50s, give evidence, claiming that he had raped her.

She alleged that 31-year-old Mohamed, working for First Call taxis, had collected her and her friends from outside the Venue club on Churchgate after a New Year party and driven them home.

She claimed they did not speak and, uninvited, he followed her into her flat.

Mohamed, of Blackburn Road, Haslingden, admitted having sex with the woman but claimed it had been consensual.

He told police that she had kissed him through the car window and invited him in. He said he returned to work 10 minutes later after declining her offer to stay

In court this morning, following discussions between the prosecution and defence forensic experts, prosecuting barrister Michael Brady formally offered no evidence against Mohamed, stating the Crown had difficulties with the “generality of the evidence”.

Judge Graeme Smith instructed the jury to return a not guilty verdict.