Councillor resigns after row over rapist taxi driver's licence decision

One of the Highland councillors who voted in favour of a rapist taxi driver keeping his operating licence has resigned from the local authority's licensing committee.

Scottish Liberal Democrat councillor John Grafton said he now realised it was not the right decision and apologised for the distress caused.

David Brown, 50, of Croy, near Inverness, was sentenced to six years and nine months in May following his attack on an 18-year-old female passenger in December 2023.

Highland licensing committee voted in private last month to take no action on Brown's operator's licence following a request from his family, but the decision has been criticised by rape charities.

Police Scotland had objected to the operator's licence continuing in Brown's name.

Highland Council said the decision would be referred to a future meeting of full council for further consideration.

Rape and Sexual Abuse Service Highland and Rape Crisis Scotland said it had sent a "harmful message" on women's safety.

In a statement, Grafton said he had voted in favour of taking no action to "protect" Brown's family.

He said that with the benefit of hindsight and information that was not available on the day of the meeting, an alternative decision could have been taken.

Grafton said he asked officials if there were any legal implications around the licence, and had assured himself that Brown "presented no current threat".

He added: "The remaining vehicle licence would expire well before he was due for release.

"It is my compassion and my processing which led me to this decision on the day. We have been told in licensing several times that we are not here to punish – that is the job of the courts."

Grafton said he had not taken the decision to resign from Highland Council's licensing committee and board lightly, and had lost sleep thinking about it.

An operator's licence covers a vehicle, allowing it to be driven by someone holding a taxi driver's licence.

Brown's taxi driver's licence was suspended in January 2024.

Rape and Sexual Abuse Service Highland chief executive, Romy Rehfeld, told BBC Scotland News on Wednesday that decisions like the licensing committee's could cause additional distress to survivors.

She added: "A convicted rapist who used his professional position to attack a young woman should not be permitted to hold a licence in that same industry."

Rape Crisis Scotland and Highlands and Islands MSP Maree Todd also criticised the decision.

Brown picked up the 18-year-old woman after a night out in Inverness. She wanted to go back to her Highland village.

Instead he drove past her destination before pulling into a lay-by near a farm, somewhere between Strathpeffer and Dingwall, and sexually assaulting her.

He then left her in Dingwall in sub-zero temperatures.

Brown had denied the charge of rape and claimed he had a consensual sexual encounter, but was found guilty after a three-day trial in Edinburgh in April.