Taxi Driver Online

My draft thread title after skim reading this was that the meeting had been cancelled after the plates had been surrendered - I zeroed in on the quote from the convener near the bottom of the piece.

But the piece also says that the meeting will still go ahead

Anyway, not much here other than rehash until the last few paragraphs of the piece.

But I suppose his thinking is that the result was effectively decided before the meeting, therefore no point in going ahead with it. And maybe his wife also told him that there was no point in going through the whole rigmarole when the result was inevitable.

But councillors will feel the need to grandstand, thus the meeting must go ahead...


Rapist taxi driver surrenders licence after controversial council vote

https://news.stv.tv/highlands-islands/r ... uncil-vote

David Brown raped a teenager in a layby in December 2023 after picking her up after a night out in Inverness

A convicted rapist has surrendered his taxi operator’s licence after Highland councillors controversially allowed him to keep it.

David Brown, from Croy, near Inverness, raped a teenager in a layby in December 2023 after picking her up after a night out in Inverness.

He then dumped the 18-year-old in Dingwall on a freezing cold night.

The 50-year-old was found guilty by a jury after a three-day trial in Edinburgh in April. He was later jailed for six years and nine months.

Brown had his taxi driver’s licence suspended in January 2024 after details of his crime emerged.

In June, a Highland Council committee voted in private to allow a taxi operator’s licence in his name to continue.

Police had objected to allowing the licence to continue, but Brown’s wife had argued at the meeting that she needed the licence to keep earning a living.

Six male councillors – chairman Sean Kennedy, Willie Mackay, Chris Birt, Duncan Macpherson, John Grafton and Conservative group leader Ruraidh Stewart – voted for Brown to keep the licence.

Following public outcry over the decision, four of the men resigned from the committee, and a fifth was suspended by his party.

A full council meeting to reconsider the decision was due to take place on Tuesday; however, Brown surrendered his two taxi operator’s licences on Monday.

Despite there now being no legal basis to consider the decision at the meeting, it is still due to proceed after an “urgent motion” acknowledging that the emergency meeting “was justified”.

Convener of The Highland Council, Councillor Bill Lobban, said that he found it “impossible to understand” the initial decision made by the committee regarding the licences.

He added: “Today, David Brown surrendered his taxi operator licences, meaning there is no longer a legal basis to proceed with tomorrow’s Special Meeting of The Highland Council.

“Had the item gone ahead, I am confident the full membership of the Council would have made the right decision based on the information before them.”

Some interesting comments in the Scotsman from a councillor who is also an MSP, and has, er, recused himself from the meeting

But this alludes to a lot of what I've been saying...

This is just the relevant part of the article rather than the rehash:


Highland councillors set to review rapist taxi driver's licence behind closed doors

https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/ ... rs-8836328

However pressure is mounting on the council to hold the meeting and any subsequent vote in public - it is currently due to be held behind closed doors.

Andrew Baxter is the Lib Dem MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch and a Fort William and Ardnamurchan councillor. He will not be able to participate in tomorrow’s meeting because his public comments on the case mean he would be in breach of the councillors’ code of conduct.

He said: “I would be surprised if many councillors attending the rehearing could genuinely say they have not already formed a view. Given the unprecedented level of media coverage and discussion across social media, this case has been impossible to ignore.

“Some councillors tried to justify their action by suggesting mitigating circumstances justified granting the licence. I fundamentally disagree.

“The legal question is a straightforward one - is David Brown, a convicted rapist who committed his offence while working as a taxi driver, a fit and proper person to hold a taxi operator’s licence? In my view there is only one possible answer to that question - no.

“There can be no mitigating circumstance that outweighs the need to protect public confidence and public safety.”

He added there is “very little justification” for holding the meeting in private, saying it “raises a much wider question about transparency”.

Mr Baxter added he is seeking a meeting with Justice Secretary Neil Gray to discuss private licensing hearings at local authorities and will “press for legislative change to ensure that those convicted of rape and other serious sexual offences are prohibited from holding taxi driver or taxi operator licences in Scotland”.

Highland Women’s Rights Group say they also demand “full transparency”. The group said: “This meeting must not be held in private.

“The public deserves to know our women are safe and that councillors are voting in the interests of the public they serve.”

I think quite a few councillors have blotted their copybook in this regard...


Yes, but that shows that in quasi-judicial terms the whole thing had been tainted in advance of the meeting

A bit more in the Inverness Courier

I haven't ventured onto the P&J's website yet


Highland rapist taxi driver gives up operator’s licences

https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/new ... es-441628/

[...]Today, the local authority was notified of the decision by Brown, of Croy, to surrender his two taxi operator’s licences. These licences were subsequently handed in to the council’s headquarters in Inverness.

As a result, the council has confirmed there is no legal basis to consider the decision by the licensing committee. However, the special meeting tomorrow will proceed at 11am, where members will be asked to consider an urgent motion from the council convener. This item will be heard in public.

The text of the motion is as follows, and has been circulated to councillors: "This council supports the decision of the chief officer legal and governance to bring the decision taken by licensing committee on June 23 to a special meeting of the Highland Council for further consideration.

“The surrender of these licences today means that they immediately ceased to have effect and consequently there is no decision for the special council to reach today. We nevertheless wish it to be made known that this unprecedented action was justified."

Council convener Bill Lobban said: "Today, David Brown surrendered his taxi operator licences, meaning there is no longer a legal basis to proceed with tomorrow’s special meeting of the Highland Council. Had the item gone ahead, I am confident the full membership of the council would have made the right decision based on the information before them.

“Personally, having considered the papers submitted for the special meeting originally to be held tomorrow, I find it impossible to understand how the licencing committee reached their original decision. The meeting of the council tomorrow will now instead consider an urgent motion from myself."

It would be interesting to read the wife's letter in full here.

But from the extracts published below, she certainly has a point, in strict legal terms at least

Albeit that the language she uses is maybe a tad overblown.


EXCLUSIVE: Rapist’s wife in tirade against Highland Council and ‘unproven victim narratives’ as meeting cancelled after David Brown surrenders taxi licences

https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/new ... il-441638/

A special meeting of Highland Council that was set to reconsider whether convicted rapist David Brown should keep two taxi operators licences was called off - after he surrendered them.

The scandal was ignited when The Inverness Courier exposed how the council’s licensing committee let Brown keep his operator’s licence in June - after he was jailed the previous month for a rape committed in 2023.

At tomorrow’s special meeting, expected to be in private, councillors were to be asked if Brown “continues to be a fit and proper person to hold two taxi operator's licences” and if him having the licences poses “a threat to public order or public safety”.

Members were also set to be asked “to decide whether any action should be taken against the licences holder in the form of a suspension or revocation of the licences”.

Yesterday afternoon, however, Highland Council issued a statement to say none of that was relevant anymore as Brown had surrendered the licences.

“These licences were subsequently handed in to the council’s headquarters,” the statement read. “As a result, there is no legal basis to consider the decision by the licensing committee.”

However, they continued, the meeting would still go ahead at 11am tomorrow, to consider an urgent motion from the council convener, to be heard in public. The motion states: "This council supports the decision of the chief officer legal and governance to bring the decision taken by licensing committee on June 23 to a special meeting of the Highland Council for further consideration.

“The surrender of these licences today means that they immediately ceased to have effect and consequently there is no decision for the special council to reach tomorrow. We nevertheless wish it to be made known that this unprecedented action was justified."

Council convener Bill Lobban said: "Had the item gone ahead, I am confident the full membership of the council would have made the right decision based on the information before them.

“Personally, having considered the papers submitted for the special meeting originally to be held tomorrow, I find it impossible to understand how the licensing committee reached their original decision."

Had the meeting gone ahead as planned, papers would have included an explosive letter from Brown’s wife threatening to sue the council.

As part of papers we have seen, Anne-Marie Brown launched a broad attack on councillors, MSPs, Police Scotland and the media.

She made one reference to her husband’s 18-year-old victim in her lengthy statement, claiming Police Scotland relied heavily on “unproven victim narratives”.

While sentencing Brown to seven years imprisonment, Judge Lord Renucci made reference to his “vulnerable” victim’s “terrifying ordeal”.

Brown is appealing his conviction.

Mrs Brown threatened to seek “substantial financial damages for bad faith, structural bias, and human rights violations” in the event councillors had voted to withdraw the licences and lashed out at a “reckless combination of anonymous breaches, unauthorised councillor interviews, and public grovelling”.

She added: “The administrative, legal, and political neutrality of this authority has entirely collapsed due to the actions and subsequent panic of specific members following the private-session leak, rendering a fair hearing impossible.”

She said councillors “buckled… recanted… capitulated…” in the face of the outcry that followed the revelation that they had voted to allow the operator’s licence in the name of David Brown to be continued, in reference to licensing committee members Sean Kennedy, John Grafton, Chris Birt and Willie Mackay who all resigned from the committee in the aftermath.

She also criticised Cllr Lobban, council leader Raymond Bremner and opposition leader Alasdair Christie, other councillors and Highland MSPs Emma Roddick, David Green and Morven-May MacCallum.

She said: “These figures have acted with total disregard for the ongoing High Court appeal that my husband is going through, and complete disregard for us as a family. They have actively whipped up a daily entourage [sic] of sensationalist media reporting, ensuring the entire forum is now driven purely by political self-preservation and external clamour.”

This is Highland Council's full statement published on Monday


Update: Special Meeting of The Highland Council, Tuesday 4 August 2026

https://www.highland.gov.uk/news/articl ... ugust-2026

Consideration of David Brown's Taxi Operator's Licence.

A Special Meeting of the Highland Council was scheduled take place tomorrow (Tuesday 4 August) to further consider the decision by the Licensing Committee on 23 June 2026 to take no action in relation to two taxi operator’s licences held by David Brown.

The decision by the Chief Officer for Legal and Corporate Governance to refer this item for further consideration on the grounds of “contravention of law” or “maladministration leading to injustice” was an extremely unusual step to take and reflects the seriousness and urgency with which the Council is treating this matter.

Today, Monday 3 August 2026, The Highland Council was notified of the decision by David Brown to surrender his two taxi operator’s licences. These licences were subsequently handed in to the Council’s headquarters. As a result, there is no legal basis to consider the decision by the Licensing Committee. However, the Special Meeting tomorrow will proceed at 11am, where members will be asked to consider an urgent motion from the Convener. This item will be heard in public.

The text of the motion is as follows, and has been directly circulated to members:

"This Council supports the decision of the Chief Officer Legal and Governance to bring the decision taken by Licensing Committee on 23 June 2026 to a special meeting of the Highland Council for further consideration. The surrender of these licences today (3 August 2026) means that they immediately ceased to have effect and consequently there is no decision for the special Council to reach today. We nevertheless wish it to be made known that this unprecedented action was justified."

Convener of The Highland Councillor, Cllr Bill Lobban said: "Today, David Brown surrendered his taxi operator licences, meaning there is no longer a legal basis to proceed with tomorrow’s Special Meeting of The Highland Council. Had the item gone ahead, I am confident the full membership of the Council would have made the right decision based on the information before them. Personally, having considered the papers submitted for the special meeting originally to be held tomorrow, I find it impossible to understand how the Licencing Committee reached their original decision. The meeting of the Council tomorrow will now instead consider an urgent motion from myself."