A HIGHLAND councillor who voted in favour of a rapist taxi driver keeping his operating licence has been expelled from his party’s local group.
The Liberal Democrat Group in the Highlands agreed to expel Caol and Mallaig councillor John Grafton “with immediate effect” at a meeting on Sunday, according to the Ross-Shire Journal.
LibDem members also unanimously backed the chief legal officer’s decision to refer the licensing committee’s ruling to a meeting of the full council, following public outcry over the decision to allow convicted rapist David Brown to keep his taxi operator’s licence.
Grafton was among several councillors who resigned from the committee overseeing the decision following a backlash last week and it comes after independent councillor Willie Mackay, a former police officer, quit the council with immediate effect on Sunday following his decision not to revoke Brown’s license.
Six male councillors on the committee agreed to allow Brown, of Croy, near Inverness, to keep his licence. The four female councillors voted against.
Brown was convicted earlier this year of raping an 18-year-old woman in a lay-by near a farm in the Highlands in December 2023.
He then dumped the vulnerable teen in freezing temperatures in Dingwall, in what Judge Lord Renucci described as a “terrifying ordeal” for the woman.
The LibDem group said in a statement on Sunday that they plan to work with other groups “to review processes and procedures of the licensing committee whilst ensuring that the ‘Fit and Proper’ test for all applicants is at the centre for all decisions.”
The statement added that “women’s, children’s and public safety is recognised as being of paramount importance when determining licensing matters.”
A spokesperson for the group confirmed that Grafton had been suspended.
They said: “We also agreed to expel Councillor Grafton from the Liberal Democrat Group with immediate effect.”
They added: “As a live application review decision is in progress, more specific and further comments will be made after that has been determined.”
Grafton resigned from the committee on Friday along with Sean Kennedy, the committee’s chair.
Grafton said he had voted in favour of taking no action to "protect" Brown's family, according to the BBC.
The councillor said he had asked officials if there were any legal implications around the licence, and that he had assured himself that Brown “presented no current threat”.
Grafton added: “The remaining vehicle licence would expire well before he was due for release.
“It is my compassion and my processing which led me to this decision on the day. We have been told in licensing several times that we are not here to punish – that is the job of the courts.”
Police Scotland had objected to the operator's licence continuing in Brown's name.
