A TAXI driver convicted of rape – but who was allowed to keep his operating licence following a vote from six male councillors – has lodged an appeal against his conviction and sentence.
David Brown, from Croy, was sentenced to six years and nine months at the High Court in Stirling earlier this year for raping an 18-year-old woman in a lay-by near a farm in the Highlands.
The 50-year-old had picked up the teenager after she had been on a night out in Inverness and subjected the teen to what Judge Lord Renucci described as a “terrifying ordeal”.
He then dumped the vulnerable teen in freezing temperatures in Dingwall.
The six male councillors on the licensing committee voted for Brown to keep his taxi driving licence despite being jailed, while the four women members on the committee opposed the decision.
The controversial vote has sparked widespread backlash, with a number of the male committee members resigning as a result.
The Inverness Courier now reports that Brown has lodged a formal appeal against his sentence and conviction.
Brown had denied the rape, but a jury rejected his claim that the incident had been consensual.
The decision to allow Brown to keep his taxi licence was made after he was guilty but before he was sentenced, the Inverness Courier reports.
According to the outlet, councillors were reportedly advised that Highland Council might be liable to legal action if councillors stripped Brown of his licence before court proceedings were concluded.
Police Scotland had objected to the operator's licence continuing in Brown's name.
It comes after the Rape and Sexual Abuse Service Highland (RASASH) charity warned that the decision from the licencing committee has "eroded public confidence" in the local authority and sends a "stark message" that other interests are deemed more important than those of survivors.
RASASH chief executive Romy Rehfield, said: The lack of transparency about why this decision was made has led to women and girls feeling less safe – particularly when taxis are something women are actively told to use to keep themselves safe at night.
“Irrespective of the reasoning, the decision to continue the operating licence of a convicted rapist – who used his profession to attack a teenage girl – sends a stark message that other interests are deemed more important than those of survivors, and it erodes public confidence that institutions will make decisions which prioritise the safety of women and girls.”
