Central Scotland News AgencyA taxi driver who raped a teenage passenger then dumped her in freezing temperatures has been allowed to keep his taxi operator’s licence.
David Brown was convicted earlier this year of raping the 18-year-old woman in a lay-by near a farm in the Highlands.
The 50-year-old had picked up the teenager after she had been on a night out in Inverness.
But he drove past her home and instead subjected the vulnerable teen to what Judge Lord Renucci described as a “terrifying ordeal”.
He was jailed for for six years and nine months in May at the High Court in Stirling.
He had denied the charge of rape, claiming he had a consensual sexual encounter, instigated by the victim.
Following Brown’s conviction, his two taxi operating licences were brought up for review by Highland Council last week.
Police officers objected to Brown’s licences following his conviction, and the matter was heard in private.
Councillors voted in favour of allowing the licences to continue in his name.
However on Tuesday, Highland Council said the decision has now been temporarily halted and will be reviewed by the full council.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We can confirm officers attended a Highland Council Licensing Committee meeting on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, and submitted an objection.
“The decision on whether to grant a license is a matter for the Council.”
A spokesperson for The Highland Council said: “We do not comment on individual licensing cases, especially those held in private.
“However, we can confirm that a Standing Order 16 Notice of Referral has been initiated by the Chief Officer – Legal and Corporate Governance. The licensing committee decision will now be referred to a future meeting of The Highland Council for further consideration.”
‘Terrifying ordeal’
Brown picked up the 18-year-old woman on December 3, 2023, with the court hearing from the victim in pre-recorded evidence that he’d agreed to run her home, despite her not having enough to pay the fare.
She added: “He said that’s fine and that he would give me a lift anyway.”
She wanted to go back to her Highland village, but Brown drove past her destination and pulled into a lay-by near a farm, somewhere between Strathpeffer and Dingwall.
Lord Renucci told Brown: “When she got into your taxi that night, she was entitled to think you would perform the function you had been engaged to – that of delivering her safely to her own home, which was some distance away.
“Instead you drove on, past the area where she lived, and took her to Dingwall where, as we know from the tracker system of your car, you drove about the town and the outskirts before stopping at a secluded and remote lay-by near a farm.
“It was in that lay-by that you then raped her. She was only 18. You were significantly older, being at the time 47.
“This must have been a terrifying ordeal for your victim, who was undoubtedly in a vulnerable condition due to her inebriation, which you took advantage of for your own sexual gratification.
“After you had finished, you drove her back into Dingwall.
“There, in effect, you dumped her out of your taxi in the very early hours of the morning.”
Lord Renucci said “thankfully” a member of staff at the town’s Tesco “saw her, took pity on her, and opened up the store to let her in out of the cold”.
The “traumatised” girl contacted the police, who managed to track Brown down, and detectives gathered enough evidence to bring him to court.
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