A taxi driver told a Supreme Court jury how he had been choked by two men and his taxi stolen ? only to find the pair beaten in his neighbourhood some hours later.

The men are being tried separately after Anthony Alexander Outerbridge, 33, of no fixed abode pleaded guilty in November, while Joseph Moniz Lima, 40, also of no fixed abode, pleaded not guilty to robbery and assault with intent to rob in Devonshire Bay on May 31.

Rudolph Fubler, who has been a taxi driver for some 25 years, told the court how he'd offered his service to the two men on Front Street.

Lima sat in front, while the other man climbed in the back and asked him to drive them to Tuckers' Town. They also told him to stop and pick someone up at Devonshire Bay.

When they arrived at Devonshire Bay, Lima told him to stop at a telephone kiosk so they could call the person.

Mr. Fubler said that when Lima opened the door to get out, he too opened his door to rest his leg, but suddenly he was grabbed from behind.

He described how Lima, who had never left the vehicle, grabbed him around the neck and choked him while demanding money.

Mr. Fubler said Lima shouted "give us your f***ing money!" as he went through his pockets.

He fought to break Lima's grip on his throat, jumped from the taxi and ran to the nearest house for help. "I was afraid the guy in the rear had a weapon," he said.

After filing the report, the Police gave him a ride home, but he said later that night he and his youngest son went out looking for his taxi.

They were unsuccessful, but sometime after getting home he got a call from his son that his taxi was on Tribe Road Number 5.

Mr. Fubler said he went outside, looked north towards the junction with Ord Road and Tribe Road Number 5.

He could confirm it was his as he approached it, adding: "The car was completely ransacked. I've never seen anything like it."

He said there were young men standing about and they told him to go towards a construction site and see if the two men "down there" were the two who had taken his taxi.

Mr. Fubler found Lima sitting naked on a piece of construction equipment. He had been beaten. He could not see the other man, but believed he was lying in the long grass nearby.

By then, Police had arrived and he pointed to Lima as one of the men who had taken his taxi earlier in the evening.

Lima's lawyer, Peter Farge asked Mr. Fubler if he had beaten his client, which Mr. Fubler denied.

He also asked Mr. Fubler if he had paid the young men standing around to "beat his client" to which Mr. Fubler replied: "No."

When asked if Mr. Fubler could remember what Lima had been wearing when allegedly got in his taxi earlier that night and allegedly choked and robbed him, Mr. Fubler said he could not.

Nor could he remember if Lima has a scar to his face or any tattoos.

Mr. Fubler told Crown counsel Shakira Dill and the court that he had seen Lima around town before and knew his face, but added: "He was the man who robbed me."

The case against Lima continues today, while Outerbridge is due to make an appearance in court on Thursday. H is being represented by Craig Attridge, while Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons is presiding over the case.