Taxi driver, 32, 'had sex with 14-year-old passenger in layby because he thought she was 16' Shakil Munir is one of four accused of sexually exploiting teenagers Prosecution alleges he met girl after sending explicit messages on Facebook But he told a court nothing happened between them in his car The driver, then aged 31, believed she was 16, he told the court Shakil Munir, of Middlesbrough, is one of four defendants accused of sexually exploiting a number of teenagers from the town A taxi driver had underage sex with a 14-year-old schoolgirl in a layby and later told her mother he believed she was 16, a court heard today. Shakil Munir, of Middlesbrough, is one of four defendants accused of sexually exploiting a number of teenagers from the town. The prosecution alleged the Bradford-born 32-year-old picked up a 14-year-old girl and had sex with her in the early hours in a parking spot on the A19 after they sent each other explicit messages on Facebook. But he told a court nothing happened between them in his car and he insisted he thought she was 16. Late on one night in January, she asked Munir to pick her up and take her to the garage to buy cigarettes, but it was alleged he stopped in a lay-by where, the prosecution said, he got her to give him oral sex, then full intercourse. Munir told the jury of ten women and two men at Teesside Crown Court he thought the sexual messages between them on Facebook were 'banter'. The driver, then aged 31, believed she was 16, he told the court. Asked by his barrister Ekwall Tiwana why he got involved in the conversation, Munir who is twice-married said: 'To be honest with you, I was going through a bad patch and I was bored and I just started chatting.' He had recently picked up the girl and two of her friends and given them a free lift, the jury heard. He denied they had sex in his car when they stopped in a lay-by. He explained that she had wanted to talk and told him about her family life and her problems. Munir parked up and they talked, he said, but he denied having sex with the girl. That night, with the girl still in his car, Munir received a text from her mother, telling him to bring her home immediately or she would call the police. It was only when the mother said her daughter was 14 that he realised her age, he said. 'I thought she was 16,' he told the jury. In a later meeting with the mother, he told her: 'Your daughter told me she was 16.' Munir said he had an arranged marriage when he was 17, which lasted 'two to three years' and that he remarried in 2004 in Pakistan. He denies child abduction and five counts of having sex with a child. Munir - who denies having sex with the girl - told the jury of ten women and two men at Teesside Crown Court he thought the sexual messages between them on Facebook were 'banter' His co-accused, two 18-year-olds and a 17-year-old, also deny all the charges against them. At the close of the prosecution case, the jury was told police had received reports that attempts had been made to stop girls from giving evidence. Christopher Knox, prosecuting, asked Detective Inspector Dino Carlucci, who is in charge of the investigation: 'There were in the course of the investigation reports reaching the police that there were pressures upon girls at or about school, discouraging them from reporting events to the police or agreeing to give evidence.' Mr Carlucci replied: 'That is a fair summary.'