A man was acquitted of trying to rob a taxi driver yesterday ? because the cabbie proved such an unreliable witness in court.

Rudolph Rudney Fubler told Supreme Court that Joseph Moniz Lima, 41, grabbed him by the throat and demanded money after he drove him and another man to Devonshire Bay.

He told the court he had seen Mr. Lima, who he described as the shorter of the pair, ?millions of times? prior to the alleged attack on May 31, 2004.

?I have seen him time and time again,? he said.

?I have seen him on Reid Street and I have seen him at the Ferry Terminal. I have seen him all times of day. In the evening, in the morning hours.?

But under cross examination, it was revealed that he gave a statement to Police on September 13, 2004, in which he said he had never seen either man before.

In the statement he gave a description of the shorter man and said: ?I was unable to remember what he was wearing at the time and I had never seen him before.?

Of the taller of the pair, who he claimed sat in the back of his cab and grabbed him from behind, he said in the statement: ?I had never seen this person before either.?

Mr. Lima, of no fixed abode, denied assaulting Mr. Fubler with intent to rob him.

Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves told the jury it was his duty to direct them to return a formal not guilty verdict because of the unreliability of Mr. Fubler?s evidence.

He said Mr. Fubler, who has driven taxis on the Island for about 30 years, had said one thing to Police and another thing entirely to the court.

?He comes in here and says ?I have seen this man many, many times?,? said the judge. ?One time he said he?d seen him a million times. How could you be able to reconcile these two? In my view, it would be impossible.?

Earlier Mr. Fubler, of Cherry Hill Park, Paget West, had told the jury that two men approached him on Front Street while he was waiting for a fare and asked to go to Tucker?s Town.

On the way, he claimed, they asked him to detour via Devonshire Bay so they could pick up another person.

He said they wanted to use his cell phone but he refused and drove them to a telephone kiosk instead.

?I was just opening my door and resting my foot on the stand,? he said. ?The next thing the guy in the back had his hand around my head and held me back. He gripped me.

?The other passenger who was attempting to get out and use the phone came back and gripped my throat and asked for my money.?

He said he told the man he had no money.

He claimed there was a struggle for about five minutes after which he escaped and went to a nearby home to get help.

Crown counsel Anthony Blackman said: ?While he was doing that he saw his taxi being driven away from the area.?

Mr. Lima was later arrested and charged by police.

Under cross-examination, Mr. Fubler contradicted himself a number of times and appeared to have trouble understanding the questions put to him by defence counsel Edward King.

Mr. King told the judge the trial should be thrown out because of the weakness of the prosecution?s evidence. ?There is no case for the defendant to answer,? he said.