Council to make closed-doors decision on rapist taxi driver wife's licence public

Highland Council has decided to make public the closed-doors decision to grant the wife of a convicted rapist taxi driver her own licence.     

Anne-Marie Brown was granted two taxi operator licences – one full and one temporary – by Highland Council’s licensing committee at its meeting on Tuesday, October 27, the council has confirmed.  

Under the terms of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, the decision was taken behind closed doors, but the council has confirmed: “in this instance, the licensing committee agreed to make the decision public”. 

A decision made under the Act would normally not be public knowledge until the minutes of the meeting were published online.

Ms Brown had applied for the licences after the controversial decision not to revoke the licence in her husband David Brown’s name was made in June, despite him being convicted and imprisoned for rape.

Before his conviction, the pair ran Ness Taxis together, and it is understood it was Ms Brown who attended the June licensing committee meeting.   

Ness Taxis is listed as dormant on Companies House, and in August, Ms Brown resigned from her post as company secretary

The June decision taken by six male councillors not to revoke the taxi operator’s licence in Brown’s name caused widespread outrage. 

Amid the outcry, four councillors resigned from the licensing committee, and one resigned from the council altogether, leaving just one of the six who voted for the licence to remain – Councillor Chris Birt – still a member of the body. 

Councillors Duncan Macpherson, John Grafton, Sean Kennedy, Chris Birt and Ruraidh Stewart also faced a vote of no confidence in September. 

The four female councillors who voted in favour of revoking Brown’s licence remain on the licensing committee but did not take part in this month’s decision over Ms Brown’s licences, due to a possible conflict of interest.   

Cllr Birt was noted as absent from the October 27 meeting. 

It is not yet known why Ms Brown applied for and was granted both a temporary and full operators licence.     

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