AN IDENTICAL twin with a long record of criminal damage punched the wing mirror of a taxi as its owner watched from the car behind, magistrates heard.

Craig Boyd, 28, denied it was him and continued to deny it even after taxi owner Abdul Hamid picked him out at an identity parade, Skipton magistrates were told.

Boyd, of Clitheroe Street, Skipton, hit the car in the early hours of May 8 while it was parked in a taxi rank in Waller Hill Car Park, next to Skipton Bus Station, breaking the wing mirror and causing damage costing £320 to repair.

Mr Hamid, who was sitting in a taxi behind chatting with a friend, watched Boyd, who was wearing a hooded top, before getting out and asking why he had done it, the court heard.

He said he could not understand why Boyd had done it and that he had walked calmly off without saying a word.

An attempt by his defence solicitor, Shiraz Hussain, to end the trial by showing Mr Hamid could have been mistaken by bringing Boyd's twin into court, was dismissed by magistrates.

After earlier accusing Mr Hussain of attempting to "hijack" proceedings, they said although identification could have been an issue, Boyd had a clear predilection to damaging vehicles.

He had also been described by Mr Hamid as sporting a small beard at the time, which he had not denied.

After finding Boyd guilty of criminal damage, magistrates adjourned sentencing for reports. Mr Hussain said Boyd would be appealing against the conviction.