Five councillors lose no confidence vote over rapist taxi driver licence row
The council will gather for a special meeting in Inverness this morning.
Highland Council has said it has no confidence in five men who allowed a rapist taxi driver to keep his operating licence.
A total of 56 out of 67 councillors voted in favour of a no confidence motion against councillors John Grafton, Ruraidh Stewart, Duncan Macpherson, Chris Birt and Sean Kennedy.
All five councillors facing the vote of no confidence went against the motion, along with Conservative councillor Liz Saggers. Five councillors also abstained.
The row centres on David Brown, 50, who was jailed for six years and nine months in May after attacking an 18-year-old female passenger in December 2023.
The woman was getting a lift home from Inverness - but the driver drove past her village, parked up in a lay-by between Strathpeffer and Dingwall, and sexually assaulted her.
He then left her in sub-zero temperatures in Dingwall.
Brown was found guilty by a jury after a three-day trial at the High Court in Stirling, and he had his taxi driver’s licence suspended in January 2024.
However he still held a separate operator’s licence, allowing his vehicle to be used as a taxi business.
Over the summer six male councillors on Highland’s licensing committee voted in favour of allowing him to keep the operator’s licence. The four female councillors on the committee voted against it.
One of the male councillors resigned shortly afterwards, and the other five have now lost a no confidence vote.
Councillor Birt, who was suspended from the SNP after the vote, defended his actions and said: “At no time did I state Mr Brown was a fit and proper person. It is a general belief all members of the council seek to take decisions in the best interest of the Highland population.
“I believe I was acting in that way. I respect members who voted differently, just as I expect mine to be respected.
“Some women emailed me to thank me for allowing someone to support herself financially.
“Even if we are deemed to be wrong, we did please a few people.”
Councillor Macpherson added: “While reasonable people may disagree with my outcome, my decision was made honestly, consciously, and what I believe protected the safety of the public.
“You will be judging me today without all the facts and context. I cannot fairly defend my decision, I am in an impossible position.”
However others heavily criticised their decision. Councillor Glynis Campbell Sinclair, who is also a former chairperson of Inverness Women’s Aid, said: “I speak as someone with profound and deep disappointment.
“We must remember the core of this matter. A young girl has been a victim, she has endured an unimaginable trauma.
“Our first duty should have been to protect and support her.”
She said supporting the male councillors tells victims that “political survival matters more than them”.
Councillor Morven Reid said: “I am astonished. In the best case scenario, these members failed to understand their remit.
“In the worst case, these members knew their remit, went against Police Scotland advice and decided convicted rapist David Brown was a fit and proper person to hold a taxi operator’s licence.
“I will be showing my teenage daughters this meeting later, who were disgusted by the original decision. They will be utterly horrified to hear what has been said in defence of that decision.”
Highland Council says the vote is a “public censure of the councillors by their peers” but does not automatically sack them as councillors.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.