A CABBIE has been cleared of dangerous driving with three passengers in the back.

But Mohammed Abbasi, 52, was found guilty of the lesser offence of driving without due care and attention by a Burnley Crown Court jury after a two-day trial.

Abbasi, of Maurice Street, Nelson, was fined £200 and given six penalty points.

Sentencing him, Judge Raymond Bennett said Abbasi had been driving for many years and had only one previous conviction for speeding.

He said: "But you are a taxi driver and to drive at the speed police say you did, whether carrying passengers or not, is not on."

The prosecution had alleged Abbasi had travelled at grossly excessive speed and swerved in front of a police car, as well as partly losing control at one stage as he drove through Nelson and Barrowford.

Zahir Choudhry, defending, said Abbasi did not have a bad driving record.

He had a clean driving licence and the offence was not the most serious of its kind.

Abbasi was not a man out joyriding, but a professional driver.

He said: "I ask the court to impose as few penalty points on his licence as possible in the circumstances to help the defendant in his long term job prospects."

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