Background and Conviction
David Brown, a 50-year-old taxi driver from Croy near Inverness, was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison in May 2024 after being found guilty of raping an 18-year-old female passenger in December 2023. The incident occurred when Brown picked up the young woman following a night out in Inverness, intending to take her back to her Highland village.
Instead of driving her to her destination, Brown drove past it and stopped in a lay-by near a farm located between Strathpeffer and Dingwall, where he sexually assaulted her. After the attack, he left her in Dingwall in sub-zero temperatures. Brown denied the charge, claiming the sexual encounter was consensual, but was convicted following a three-day trial held in Edinburgh in April 2024.
Licensing Committee Decision
Following the emergence of details about his offences, Brown's taxi driver's licence, which permits him to drive a taxi, was suspended in January 2024. However, his separate taxi operator's licence, which authorises him to run a taxi business, was reviewed by the Highland Council's licensing committee on 23 June 2024.
The committee met in private and voted to allow Brown to retain his operator's licence despite objections from Police Scotland. The council stated that the licensing committee's decision would be referred to a future meeting of the full council for further consideration. Under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, councillors are prohibited from commenting publicly on matters discussed in private sessions.
BBC Scotland News understands that a member of Brown's family requested that the operator's licence be allowed to continue. The committee had the options to suspend, revoke, or take no action regarding the licence and ultimately chose the latter.
John Grafton, a member of the licensing committee, told BBC Scotland News that his decision was based on the information presented during the committee meeting but declined to provide further details due to the private nature of the proceedings. He stated,
"Unfortunately, I cannot say any more. I am happy to answer people's questions when it becomes not private."
Response from Rape Charity
Rape and Sexual Abuse Service Highland expressed strong disapproval of the decision to allow Brown to retain his operator's licence. The charity emphasised that permitting a convicted rapist to continue holding a licence in the same industry sends a "harmful message" to women.
Romy Rehfeld, chief executive of the charity, said,
"Our first thoughts are with the victim and her family.
Decisions like this can cause real additional distress to survivors and risks forcing them to relive their trauma.
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."
She also expressed concern about the decision being made in private, stating,
"It is troubling that the decision was made in private.
Women and girls in the Highlands deserve to know why Police Scotland's objection was set aside."
