A man accused of shooting dead a Bradford taxi driver “couldn’t win a fair fight and returned to avenge his wounded pride,” it was alleged at Bradford Crown Court today.

Prosecutor Richard Wright QC told the jury that Ricardo Linton gunned down Mohammed Basharat the day after he came off worse in a road rage fight between the men on the city’s Park Lane.

Mr Wright said the “something and nothing” scuffle ended with Linton abandoning his car and threatening to come back and kill Mr Basharat.

Mr Basharat had collected a fare from a public house when he was approached by a white Renault Clio travelling in the opposite direction. He was forced to stop his cab to avoid a potential collision, the court heard.

In the scuffle between the drivers, Mr Basharat, who was tall and well-built, “got the better of the other driver,” Mr Wright said.

He had the man in a headlock but then he fell and the man ran away.

The incident was witnessed by members of the public and other taxi drivers who arrived after hearing that Mr Basharat was in trouble but did not intervene.

It is alleged that the Renault driver said: “You don’t know who you are messing with. I’ll kill you.”

The following evening a man in a green balaclava walked into the Little Horton Private Hire office carrying a modified Brocock revolver and shot Mr Basharat in the head and the mouth fatally wounding him.

The gunman then “tracked” Jamshad Khan with the weapon and went to shoot him. There were several clicks but the weapon would not fire, Mr Wright said.

It is alleged that Mr Khan, known as Jimmy, was targeted because he had seen Linton at the road rage incident and could identify him.

Linton, 45, of no fixed address, denies murdering Mr Basharat and attempting to murder Mr Khan on October 20, 2001.

Mr Wright told the jury that Linton denied participating in any way in the shooting.

The DNA on the bullet casings was not his and there were prints in the Clio that did not match his.

But Mr Wright alleged that he was the driver of the car the previous day and the gunman.

“He couldn’t win a fair fight and returned to avenge his wounded pride,” he maintained.

The trial judge, Mr Justice Lavender, told the jury the case will resume on Thursday morning.