Four councillors quit after voting for rapist taxi driver to keep operator licence

Four councillors who voted to allow a rapist taxi driver to keep his operator's licence have resigned from a Scottish council's committee.

David Brown, 50, was jailed for six years and nine months in May after preying on an 18-year-old female passenger in Ross-shire in December 2023.

Following a request from Brown's family - despite an objection by Police Scotland - six male councillors on Highland Council's licensing committee last month voted to allow his operator's licence to continue, while four female councillors voted against it.

The decision sparked a public outcry, with councillors Sean Kennedy, John Grafton, Duncan Macpherson and Willie MacKay subsequently resigning from the committee and board.

Mr MacKay also resigned as a councillor, while Mr Grafton has been expelled by the Highland Liberal Democrats group.

Sky News contacted each of the men for comment.

Councillor Chris Birt said he voted to remove Brown's taxi driver's licence but was one of the six councillors who allowed the operator's licence to continue.

Dr Birt explained: "His wife was present, who had been carrying on the taxi business as according to the operator's licence, which had six months to run, after which she could renew it in her own name.

"Quite obviously, the subject's personal taxi driver's licence had to be removed.

"However, his wife, as the only other taxi driver operating under the operator's licence, was continuing to earn her keep as a taxi driver."

Following guidance from the clerk and the fact Brown is currently in jail, Dr Birt made the decision to allow the operator's licence to continue for its final six months.

He said: "I stand by that decision, as it was lawful, ensured public safety, and was just.

"I know that some of my colleagues on the committee felt similarly - but they can speak for themselves. Others disagreed, which is of course of their right.

"The criminal case itself is of course of no significance to our committee, apart from the facts of the seriousness of the crime and the length of the prison sentence.

"I must emphasise that I am as disgusted by this criminal taxi driver's crimes as is anyone else, and all sex crimes horrify me utterly.

"But, apart at an emotional level, these matters have nothing whatsoever to do with our vote to protect the criminal's wife from punishment as well as her husband, which would have prevented her from earning her living for the next six months, until the operator's licence ends - when she could renew it in her own name."

Rape and Sexual Abuse Service Highland (RASASH) and Rape Crisis Scotland condemned the committee's decision.

RASASH chief executive Romy Rehfeld said: "The lack of transparency about why this decision was made has led to women and girls feeling less safe - particularly when taxis are something women are actively told to use to keep themselves safe at night.

"Irrespective of the reasoning, the decision to continue the operating licence of a convicted rapist - who used his profession to attack a teenage girl - sends a stark message that other interests are deemed more important than those of survivors, and it erodes public confidence that institutions will make decisions which prioritise the safety of women and girls.

"Acts of sexual violence rarely have just one victim. They cause immense harm to the individual, families, and the wider community.

"It is essential that more men play a role in tackling gender-based violence, including holding perpetrators to account, and understanding the wider impact of a decision like this."

During Brown's trial at the High Court in Edinburgh, jurors heard how he picked up the 18-year-old victim who had been on a night out in Inverness and wanted to return to her Highland village.

Instead of driving her safely home, he parked up at a spot between Strathpeffer and Dingwall and seriously sexually assaulted her.

The rapist then left the teenager in sub-zero temperatures in Dingwall.

Jurors rejected Brown's claim that the sexual encounter was consensual.

Brown, of Croy near Inverness, was convicted in April and sentenced the following month at the High Court in Stirling.

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Brown's taxi driver's licence was suspended in January 2024 after the allegations came to light.

His separate operator's licence - which allows his vehicle to be used as a taxi business and cannot be transferred to another person - was brought before Highland Council's licensing committee for a review just weeks after he was sentenced.

The local authority said the committee's decision to allow the licence to continue - which was discussed in private - has now been referred to a future meeting of the full council for further consideration.

Councillor Alasdair Christie, leader of the Highland Liberal Democrats, said the group met on Sunday and expelled colleague Mr Grafton with "immediate effect".

He added his party will work with other groups on the council to review the processes and procedures of the licensing committee, while "ensuring that the 'fit and proper' test for all applicants is at the centre for all decisions" and that "women's, children's and public safety is recognised as being of paramount importance when determining licensing matters".

Nicola Love, external affairs manager at Rape Crisis Scotland, said: "Given the damaging nature of this decision, and the reaction from local communities, it is appropriate for elected representatives to consider their positions - however, we want to see a solution and a flurry of resignations does not achieve that.

"If it is so difficult for a licence to be stripped from a convicted rapist without impacting the livelihood of someone who has nothing to do with his offence, then the solution is not to allow that licence to continue.

"The red tape needs to be cut, and the system needs to change."

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