THE trial of a taxi driver accused of sexual activity with a drunken teenage passenger has been halted.
Arfan Ali denied engaging in sexual activity with a 19-year-old without her consent after giving her a lift home from a night out in Yarm on Christmas Eve, 2017.
After three days of evidence, Judge Stephen Ashurst discharged the jury from reaching a verdict at Teesside Crown Court.
The judge told the panel of eight women and four men that the decision had been reached for legal reasons.
Mr Ali, 28, of Marton Road, Middlesbrough, was given bail until a fresh trial, on a date to be fixed, can be set.
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