Rapist taxi driver David Brown hands back operator licenses
Written by MartyM on 3 August 2026
By Jamie McDonald
Rapist taxi driver David Brown hands back operator licenses
Convicted rapist David Brown has surrendered his taxi operator’s licenses.
A special meeting of The Highland Council had been planned for Tuesday to review the Licensing Committee’s decision in June to allow him to keep the licenses.
The meeting will still go ahead but will instead consider an urgent motion from Council Convener Cllr Bill Lobban. The motion states that the unprecedented referral of the Licensing Committee’s decision was justified, despite the licences now having been surrendered.
Cllr Lobban said that, having reviewed the papers prepared for the meeting, he found it “impossible to understand” how the Licensing Committee reached its original decision. He added that, had the matter proceeded, he was confident the full Council would have reached the right outcome based on the information before members.
The motion to be considered by councillors reads as follows:
“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.”
Brown was sentenced to six years and nine months in jail in May after he was found guilty of raping an 18-year-old in December 2023.
He picked up the woman in Inverness after a night out and drove past her destination before attacking her in a remote spot between Strathpeffer and Dingwall.
David Brown was sentenced in May
Brown, from Croy, was convicted at the High Court in Edinburgh in April and sentenced at the High Court in Stirling a month later.
His victim said he had agreed to drive her home despite her not having enough to money for the fare.
He pulled into a lay-by near a farm before groping the woman, sexually assaulting her, and forcing her to perform a sex act.
The victim later contacted police. Detectives were able to establish the route Brown had taken using the tracker system from his car.
Tuesday’s meeting was likely to be held in private, as is the discretion of councillors. But it will now be heard in public.
The Licensing Committee vote last month was also held in private.
Members voted six to four to take no action over Brown’s licence on 23 June. Of the six, four have resigned from the committee, with one councillor quitting the local authority altogether.
The SNP group on Highland Council suspended councillor Chris Birt after it emerged he was one of the six.
Mr Birt, who represents Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh, remains a member of the Licensing Committee.
Conservative group leader Ruraidh Stewart was also one of the six councillors who voted in favour of taking no action. He has represented Eilean a’ Cheò since 2022 and remains on the Licensing Committee.
Radio Skye has contacted both Mr Birt and Mr Stewart for comment.
Skye SNP councillor Drew Millar voted against suspending Brown’s operator’s licence in January 2024, before his conviction, but was no longer a member of the committee by the time of the June vote.
Full list of councillors who voted for and against rapist David Brown to keep his taxi operator’s licence:
FOR
- Sean Kennedy
- Willie Mackay
- Chris Birt
- Duncan Macpherson
- John Grafton
- Ruraidh Stewart
AGAINST
- Jackie Hendry
- Lyndsey Johnston
- Emma Knox
- Kate MacLean
