The jury in the trial of a minicab driver accused of sexually assaulting a pregnant woman passenger has been unable to reach a verdict.

Judge Christopher Batty discharged the 12 jurors last Friday.

Qamar Zaman, 33, of Florist Street, Stockbridge, Keighley, denied molesting the woman on February 5, during a taxi ride between Haworth and the Keighley area. Bradford Crown Court heard that the woman, in her 30s, was left shocked and shaken.

She accused Zaman of stroking her stomach, groping her and grabbing her hand.

Zaman told the jury the woman racially abused him and handed him only half his fare. Asked if he touched her at all, Zaman replied: “No, absolutely not.”

Zaman told the jury the woman became angry when he did not go through a red light at temporary traffic lights which were not working.

Prosecutor Jonathan Sharp had said the woman had been out in Haworth that evening with a woman friend.

Because she was pregnant, she had not drunk any alcohol. At 10.30pm, she called Bronté Cabs, a firm she had used for eight years, to book a fare home.

She did not recognise the defendant as a regular driver but got into the front passenger seat of his Toyota Avensis.

Mr Sharp said she chatted with Zaman and when she mentioned she was pregnant, he stroked her stomach. The woman got out of the cab before she reached home because she did not want Zaman to know where she lived, the jury heard.

He then grabbed her hand, pulled her towards him and tried to kiss her wrist, it is alleged.