iStockA taxi driver raped a passenger who was returning home from a night out wth friends.
David Brown, 49, preyed on the 20-year-old woman whilst he parked his car up at a field in Ross-shire on December 3, 2023.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard how Brown, of Croy, Inverness-shire, made sexual remarks to his victim moments before he attacked her.
A jury heard how Brown picked up the young woman after she had been on a night out in Inverness earlier in the evening.
She wanted to go home to her Highland village, but Brown raped her after parking his vehicle at a field somewhere between Strathpeffer and Dingwall.
Brown claimed that he had a sexual encounter with the woman who told the court of how she was left traumatised by his actions.
On Friday, a jury returned a verdict of guilty to a charge of rape. Judge Lord Renucci remanded Brown in custody and called for a report to be prepared into the accused’s background.
During proceedings, the jury was shown a video recording of the woman giving evidence at an earlier hearing.
She said that Brown agreed to run her home despite not having enough money to pay her fare.
She added: “He said that’s fine and that he would give me a lift anyway.”
The woman said that during the journey, Brown didn’t go the way she needed to and sexually assaulted her.
She added: “He put his hand down my top – my Puffa jacket was unzipped. He grabbed my left breast and said ‘oh you’ve been hiding this from me.’
“I froze. I didn’t really have a reaction to it.”
The court heard that Brown continued to sexually assault her.
Brown then forced her to perform a sex act. He drove her to Dingwall and dropped her off in what the court heard were -4C temperatures.
The court heard that the woman contacted the police, who managed to track Brown down. Detectives gathered enough evidence to bring him to court.
During the three-day-long trial, Brown claimed he had a consensual sexual encounter with the woman.
His lawyer, Bill Adam, told the jury that they couldn’t be satisfied with the evidence presented to them by prosecutor Paul Nelson KC.
However, jurors disagreed and returned a guilty verdict on a charge of rape.
Brown was remanded in custody and Lord Renucci called for report into the accused’s background.
The case will next call at the High Court in Edinburgh on May 15, 2026.
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