MSP calls for convicted rapists to be banned from holding taxi licences

An MSP has called for new legislation to ban convicted rapists from holding a taxi licence.

The call follows the revelation that Highland councillors allowed a rapist taxi driver to retain his operator’s licence despite being convicted for the crime.

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 instead of dropping her home, he subjected the vulnerable teen to what Judge Lord Renucci described as a “terrifying ordeal”.

He then dumped her in freezing temperatures in Dingwall.

In May, Brown was jailed for six years and nine months at the High Court in Stirling.

He had denied the charge of rape, claiming he had a consensual sexual encounter, instigated by the victim.

Last week, Brown’s two taxi operating licences were brought up for review by Highland Council, and despite objections by police, the convicted rapist’s licences were allowed to continue in his name in a closed-door meeting.

A protest is being planned for outside the council’s Inverness headquarters, calling for those who granted a continuation of that licence to be removed from the committee and for the licence to be revoked.

Six men voted in favour of granting the licence. Four women members of the committee opposed it.

Andrew Baxter, Liberal Democrat MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, told STV News: “It seems a nonsense that a convicted rapist can hold a taxi driver or operator’s licence.

“It’s time the Scottish Government tightened up the legislation and prohibited them from doing so for the remainder of their life.

“That would mean a simple change in the law that prevents them from even applying for that licence or a renewal of that licence in the future.”

Thousands of people have signed an online petition calling for the licence to be revoked. Licensing committee members risk being barred from speaking about the issue prior to a full council debate on it.

One of the councillors, Lyndsey Johnston, has said that her thoughts are with the victim of the crime.

Fellow committee member, John Grafton, said on Friday that his vote was based on “compassion” for others said to be dependent on driving David Brown’s taxi to earn a living.

The Inverness Women’s Aid charity echoed calls for the decision to be overturned. It said the decision undermined the hard work of the taxi industry to build trust and confidence with the public.

Highland Council won’t comment on individual licensing cases, but confirmed the committee’s decision will be reviewed by the next full council in September.