Highland Council looking for lawyer to oversee the licensing after rapist taxi driver decision

Highland Council has advertised for a solicitor to manage its licensing legal advice in the wake of a row over a decision to allow a convicted rapist taxi driver to renew his vehicle licence.

The local authority is offering between £57,948 and £63,390 for a principal solicitor.

Taxi driver David Brown, 50, from Croy near Inverness, was jailed for almost seven years earlier this year for raping an 18-year-old woman passenger whom he attacked and dumped on a freezing December night in 2023.

It emerged that the council’s licensing committee – meeting in private – allowed his taxi operator’s licence to be retained so his wife could continue the business despite his conviction.

The committee voted six-four to allow continuation of the licence. Six men who attended the meeting voted in favour while four female colleagues opposed it.

Highlands & Islands

Five male councillors voted for rapist to keep driving taxis month after attack on teen passenger

David Brown raped the 18-year-old female in a layby in December 2023 after picking her up after a night out in Inverness

The police had advised refusal.

After a public furore over the issue, long-serving Caithness independent councillor Willie Mackay quit the local authority.

Sean Kennedy (non-aligned) stepped down as committee chairman along with John Grafton, who was then expelled from the Liberal Democrat group.

Duncan Macpherson of the Highland Alliance also resigned from the committee and John Birt was suspended from the SNP group pending an investigation.

The other committee member, Conservative group leader Ruraidh Stewart has remained silent.

The licensing decision will be reviewed by a meeting of the full council next week. Councillors will vote on whether to consider the issue in private.