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FM says rapist taxi driver row a 'terrible controversy' for council

News imagePA Meda John Swinney is in the outdoors. There are trees with green leaves just out of focus behind him. Swinney is bald man and is wearing glasses, also a dark blue suit over a white shirt and purple tie. He has a pin badge of Scotland's saltire flag pinned to his lapel.PA Meda
John Swinney said Highland Council had "faced up" to a decision taken by its licensing committee

John Swinney has said a rapist being allowed to hold taxi operator's licences was a "terrible controversy" for Highland Council, but added the local authority had "properly and fully faced up to it".

In May, David Brown, 50, from Croy, near Inverness, was sentenced to six years and nine months following an attack on an 18-year-old female passenger.

In June, six male members of Highland licensing committee voted to take no action on licences held in Brown's name, while four female councillors voted against the move.

The first minister said the committee made the "wrong decision" to allow the licenses to continue.

The decision in June was criticised by rape charities.

Six councillors have since resigned from the licensing committee with one them, Willie Mackay, also quitting the council. A by-election is due to be held in his Wick and East Caithness ward at a later date.

Brown surrendered his licences on Monday, before the committee's decision could be reviewed by a special meeting of Highland Council.

The meeting still went ahead on Tuesday, and council convener Bill Lobban described the decision as a "disturbing episode" in the local authority's history.

Five councillors now face a no-confidence vote at a meeting of the full council in September.

They include Sean Kennedy, the committee's former chairman, who is a non-aligned councillor after resigning from the Highland Independent group

The others are: Scottish Conservative Ruraidh Stewart; Highland Alliance councillor Duncan Macpherson; John Grafton, who was suspended by the Scottish Liberal Democrats; and suspended SNP councillor Chris Birt.

Speaking on a visit to Dundee, Swinney said: "The David Brown controversy has been terrible and I think Highland Council properly and fully faced up to that in the decision that took place yesterday."

News imageAlan Simpson David Brown has close-cropped, dark hair. He is wearing glasses, a dark suit and tie and a white shirt. He is on a mobile phone outside a court.Alan Simpson
David Brown was jailed in May after attacking an 18-year-old passenger

The first minister added: "I am glad the issue has been resolved and it is for individual licensing authorities to take decisions and they have the statutory powers.

"I think this has been acknowledged by Highland Council - the wrong decision was made in the first place, and licensing authorities need to look at the implications of that decision."

On the night of the attack in December 2023, Brown picked up the woman who had been on a night out in Inverness.

She had wanted to go back to her Highland village but instead, Brown drove past her destination before pulling into a lay-by near a farm, somewhere between Strathpeffer and Dingwall, and raped her.

He then left her in sub-zero temperatures in Dingwall.

Brown, who denied the charges, is appealing his conviction and sentence.