Five Highland councillors face no confidence motion over decision to allow rapist taxi driver David Brown to keep licences

By Jamie McDonald

Five Highland councillors face no confidence motion over decision to allow convicted rapist taxi driver David Brown to keep licences

Five Highland councillors who voted in favour of taking no action against convicted rapist taxi driver David Brown’s operator licences are set to face a motion of no confidence.

The move was announced by Highland Council Convener Cllr Bill Lobban during a special meeting of The Highland Council on Tuesday 4 August.

Cllr Lobban said the motion will be brought against councillors Sean Kennedy, Chris Birt, Duncan Macpherson, John Grafton and Ruraidh Stewart. The vote will take place at the next full council meeting in September.

The five councillors were among six members of the Licensing Committee who voted on 23 June to take no action against Brown’s two taxi operator licences.

The sixth councillor who voted in favour, Willie Mackay, has already stood down as a councillor.

The special meeting had originally been called after the Council’s Chief Officer for Legal and Corporate Governance referred the Licensing Committee’s decision back to the full Council for further consideration on the grounds of possible “contravention of law” or “maladministration leading to injustice”.

However, the meeting’s purpose changed after David Brown surrendered his two taxi operator licences on Monday 3 August.

Members were told there was no longer a legal basis to reconsider the original decision, as the licences had immediately ceased to have effect.

The meeting continued in public, with councillors asked to consider an urgent motion from Cllr Lobban.

The motion stated:

“This Council supports the decision of the Chief Officer Legal and Governance to bring the decision taken by Licensing Committee on 23 June 2026 to a special meeting of the Highland Council for further consideration.

“The surrender of these licences today (3 August 2026) means that they immediately ceased to have effect and consequently there is no decision for the special Council to reach today. We nevertheless wish it to be made known that this unprecedented action was justified.”

The motion was agreed at 11.06am.

Speaking after the vote, Cllr Lobban described the situation as the culmination of a “disturbing episode” for the Council, calling it “shameful” and “incomprehensible”.

He said he had every confidence that, had the full Council been given the opportunity to consider the Licensing Committee’s original decision, members would have overturned it.

Cllr Lobban said:

“Clearly, we as a Council must reconsider how we deal with licensing within the boundaries of the law and those discussions will be ongoing as a matter of urgency.”

He also said attention must remain on the victim at the centre of the case.

“It is important that we remember that at the heart of this matter, there is a victim. I fear at times there may have been a lack of attention or focus on them in recent weeks. Our sympathies lie with the victim in this case and the significant stress that the consequences of the original decision will ultimately have on them.”

The case against David Brown

David Brown, from Croy, was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison in May after being convicted of raping an 18-year-old woman in December 2023.

He was convicted at the High Court in Edinburgh in April and sentenced at the High Court in Stirling a month later.

The court heard Brown picked up the woman in Inverness after a night out and drove past her intended destination before taking her to a remote location between Strathpeffer and Dingwall.

The victim said Brown had agreed to take her home despite her not having enough money for the fare.

He pulled into a lay-by near a farm, where he attacked her.

Police were later able to establish the route Brown had taken using the tracker system fitted to his taxi.

Licensing Committee decision

The Licensing Committee considered Brown’s operator licences on 23 June.

Members voted six to four in favour of taking no action, meaning Brown was allowed to retain his licences.

The councillors who voted in favour were:

• Sean Kennedy
• Willie Mackay
• Chris Birt
• Duncan Macpherson
• John Grafton
• Ruraidh Stewart

Those who voted against were:

• Jackie Hendry
• Lyndsey Johnston
• Emma Knox
• Kate MacLean

Following the decision, several councillors stepped away from the Licensing Committee.

The SNP group on Highland Council suspended councillor Chris Birt after it emerged he was one of the six members who voted in favour of taking no action.

Mr Birt, who represents Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh, remains a member of hte Licensing Committee.

Conservative group leader Ruraidh Stewart, who represents Eilean a’ Cheò, was also among those who voted in favour and remains on the Licensing Committee.

Radio Skye has contacted both Mr Birt and Mr Stewart for comment.

Skye SNP councillor Drew Millar had previously voted against suspending Brown’s operator’s licence in January 2024, before Brown’s conviction. However, he was no longer a member of the Licensing Committee by the time of the June vote.