Taxi Driver Online

There's been some chalk

And maybe it's just me, but is the P&J trying to destroy the whole ongoing process?

They're blatantly politicising this, but of course this should have nothing to do with politics. And the political parties have played ball with that, have expelled some, and holding meetings with regard to others.

They simply shouldn't be holding meetings about this stuff, surely?

So in my opinion both the press and politicians have tainted the whole process


As it happens: Inverness protesters call for councillors to resign amidst taxi license scandal

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The local authority is in turmoil after the controversial decision.



Protests have taken place in Inverness city centre over the weekend as public anger continues over councillors’ decision to allow convicted rapist David Brown to retain his taxi operator’s licence despite recommendations from Police Scotland and council licensing officers.

Chalk messages have appeared around Falcon Square, with messages including: “Keep your laws off my body”, and “protect women.”

The names of each councillor who voted to allow Brown to retain his operator’s licence were also written down, alongside calls for them to resign.

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The demonstrations follow recently discovered video, which appears to show Brown carrying out a passenger drop-off at Inverness Airport, after he was banned from driving a taxi.

The footage, understood to have been recorded on March 20, 2026, shows Brown dropping off passengers at the airport.

Two months later, in May 2026, he was jailed for raping a female passenger he had picked up in Inverness in December 2023.

Several Inverness taxi drivers, who asked not to be identified, have also claimed Brown continued working after losing his licence.

Meanwhile, Brown’s wife has publicly defended her husband following his imprisonment.

In a Facebook post shared after Brown was jailed, Anne-Marie Brown said the family continued to stand behind him despite his conviction.

She said that the justice system is “flawed” and she believed “the truth will come out”.

Highland Council parties asked if they still have confidence in councillors

Highland Council’s political groups are also facing questions over whether they continue to support councillors who voted to allow the convicted rapist to retain his taxi operator’s licence.

The Press and Journal has contacted the political groups represented by the six councillors who backed the application to ask.

• Whether they still have confidence in those involved?

• Do they support the outcome of the hearing?

• If they believe they should remain on the licensing committee?

The Highland Independent group has called a meeting to hold crunch talks on the matter that is scheduled to take place on Wednesday.

What councillors have told us

One councillor told The Press and Journal the convicted rapist’s wife attended the licensing hearing and became visibly emotional, telling councillors she would be “left destitute” if the operator’s licence was revoked.

However, another councillor said the licensing committee’s role was not to assess an applicant’s financial circumstances.

They said determining whether someone qualifies for financial support is a matter for the benefits system rather than the licensing process.

A separate councillor was highly critical of the decision, saying every man who voted in favour of granting the licence should resign because they ignored recommendations from both Police Scotland and Highland Council’s own licensing officers.

Fresh questions over the operator’s licence

One councillor also questioned why the operator’s licence remained in the convicted rapist’s name.

They claimed his wife could have applied for an operator’s licence herself but believed it was “unlikely” she would have met the licensing criteria.

The six councillors who voted to allow Brown to keep his operators licence:

Ruraidh Stewart: Conservative

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Councillor Stewart remains leader of the Highland Council Conservative group and a member of the licensing committee.

The Press and Journal has asked fellow Conservative councillors whether they continue to have confidence in him following the committee’s decision.

Mr Stewart has not replied to any requests for comment.

The Scottish Conservatives declined to comment specifically on the future of Mr Stewart when contacted by The P&J.

A spokesman said: “We do not support the decision taken by the licensing committee.

“Whatever the extenuating circumstances behind it, this vote has caused understandable anger and it would be appropriate for it to be reviewed.”

John Grafton: Liberal Democrat

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John Grafton has said he will continue to serve as a Highland councillor after leaving the Liberal Democrats in the wake of the licensing committee’s controversial decision to allow convicted rapist David Brown to retain his taxi operator’s licence.

He now sits as an independent Highland councillor.

The Press and Journal has asked Councillor Grafton whether he has considered resigning from Highland Council following the controversy.

Duncan Macpherson: Highland Alliance

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Councillor Macpherson remains a Highland councillor, but has resigned as a member of the licensing committee.

The Press and Journal has asked the Highland Alliance group whether it continues to support him following the vote. We have asked Mr Macpherson if he intends to resign from the council.

Chris Birt: SNP

Councillor Birt remains a Highland councillor, a member of the SNP group and a member of the licensing committee.

The Press and Journal has asked SNP leader Raymond Bremner and depute leader Ken Gowans whether they continue to have confidence in him following the decision.

In response to an email from The Press and Journal asking if he would resign, Mr Birt said: “I remain totally horrified by Mr Brown’s appalling crimes, and I believe that all proven sexual crimes should be punished harshly.

“But our decision last month had nothing whatsoever to do with Mr Brown’s conviction.”

Asked why Brown’s wife had not asked for her own operators licence, he added: “We did investigate exactly this point; however there are both practical and financial reasons why Mrs Brown could not open any new operator’s licence before the current one expires (in only 5 months now).”

“Of course she has been working as a taxi driver ever since her husband’s conviction six months ago, and she is continuing to do so.”

Mr Birt is currently on holiday in Italy.

Willie Mackay: Independent

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Councillor Mackay, it is understood has resigned from the local authority altogether over the matter.

He has been removed from The Highland Council’s website.

Sean Kennedy

Councillor Kennedy remains a Highland councillor.

He has resigned as a member of the Independent group and as the chairman of the licensing committee.

We have asked Mr Kennedy if he intends to resign from The Highland Council.

What happens next?

The Highland Independent group has revealed crunch talks will be held over the fall-out on Wednesday.

A spokesman said: “We are unable to comment at this time. “We are having a group meeting on Wednesday to discuss the matter.”

I mean, surely that last statement right at the end there underlines that it's all now just a charade?


Wonder what that's all about?


I see - so there's no point in the whole process because you're simply supposes to vote for what officials and police want anyway

This is an opinion piece from the former P&J deputy editor. Some fair points, but on the other hand a lot of it is consistent with tainting the whole process. In my opinion


David Knight: Inverness taxi fiasco shows councils should scrap secrecy around licensing when public deserves full picture

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Somebody should have seen trouble brewing miles in advance over the Inverness taxi application and acted accordingly.

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I was half-listening to a conversation between my wife and her hairstylist through an open doorway to another room at our house.

I wasn’t eavesdropping – they knew I was there and were talking quite loudly above the hum of the hairdryer.

It can be a hair-raising experience for various reasons other than the flurry of activity around my wife’s head.

What caught my attention was the hairdresser describing how much she enjoyed the television drama Believe Me.

It’s about real-life London taxi driver John Worboys, who was jailed for drugging and raping around 12 women (but suspected of many more) by literally using his cabbie job as a vehicle for sex attacks.

The story was dominated by the courageous battle of his victims to make their voices heard – and, above all, to be believed against a wall of callous police indifference they faced initially.

Not the sort of dramatisation you’d describe as “enjoyable”.

What she actually took satisfaction from was the victims’ final victory against all the odds; a triumph for all women.

For me, there’s common ground between public revulsion over Worboys and a similar but unconnected set of circumstances hundreds of miles away in Inverness.

Councillors on the Highlands licensing committee provoked an angry public backlash for inexplicably allowing a taxi operator’s licence to remain in the name of another convicted rapist cab driver in their area.

I’m not being clever after the event, but I thought instantly of Worboys as soon as I heard about the Inverness debacle.

Surely everyone else would, too, especially as Inverness cab-rapist David Brown was jailed in the middle of the Worboys series being aired in May – and only weeks before the private committee hearing.

How could they fall into such a trap of their own making?

Worboy’s case should have set the tone for Inverness taxi saga

You would like to think they might have reflected on the national attention Worboys received and proceeded with extreme caution over Brown – bearing in mind the public’s disgust over a taxi driver-rapist in the community.

And their anger over the trauma of sexual brutality endured by these victims, and women in general.

Highlands Council is under intense scrutiny.

Many TV dramas about real events would not exist but for local journalists whose work highlighted shocking injustices in the first place.

Local journalism matters.

Usually, these stories are squeezed out from public bodies that try to hide important information away from the public gaze in secret meetings.

We have P&J reporters to thank for uncovering the Inverness taxi scandal, which has become a huge embarrassment to the local authority and will be raked up for years to come.

It was perhaps predictable or depressing that the secret vote in favour of renewing the rapist’s taxi operator’s licence was carried by six male councillors on the licensing committee – and opposed by four unshakeable female members who put their foot down.

Apparently, his wife wanted to continue the taxi business, but the committee should have eliminated him from the licensing process as an alternative solution was sought.

Four of the male councillors quit the committee; later, one of the wretched resignees made an illuminating comment.

He said he didn’t think they were there to “punish” people – that was for the courts.

But neither were they supposed to give the impression of offering philanthropic benevolence towards a convicted rapist who forced himself on a defenceless teenage passenger.

In such a sensitive case, it was a question of striking the correct balance; to possess the acumen to sense how the victim and public might feel – and navigate through this minefield.

Lessons must be learned

Mercifully, the council as a whole now looks certain to quash this nonsense and construct a sensible solution, while trying to shore up the committee’s shattered reputation.

I hesitate to use that overused and totally discredited phrase “lessons must be learned” because they rarely are, I’m afraid.

Issues remain over the Inverness fiasco.

Such as excessive secrecy around decisions, which is unhealthy and clouds public transparency.

Phrases such as “commercial confidentiality” are a convenient cloak to hide things away in cases like this.

There was no justification for privacy here with such obvious legitimate public interest; any sensitive financial details could have been excluded from public view, but not the overall deliberations.

Somebody should have seen trouble brewing miles in advance over this application and acted accordingly.

The “guilty” councillors were hammered, but their level of training and preparedness is also being questioned.

I recall a council chief executive once telling me ruefully that a major problem with running local authorities was councillors messing up.

But they are the public’s only direct democratic link with the process, so they must be open, accountable and equipped properly for the job.

It would also be useful if they were able to see past the end of their noses.

David Knight is the long-serving former deputy editor of The Press and Journal.

Not really - wasn't the purpose of it all to decide whether he was fit and proper to hold the taxi licence?

You mean just like council officials messing up?