A RAPIST taxi driver has surrendered his operating licence after six male councillors controversially allowed him to keep it.
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 Highland Council's 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 sparked widespread backlash, with four of the male committee members resigning as a result, and a fifth suspended by his party.
And last month, it emerged that Brown had lodged an appeal against his conviction and sentence.
A full council meeting to reconsider the committee's decision was due to take place on Tuesday.
However, on Monday Brown surrendered his two taxi operator's licences.
Despite there now being no legal basis to consider the decision at the meeting on Tuesday, it is still set to go ahead after an urgent motion acknowledging that it "was justified", STV News reports.
Highland Council convenor, councillor Bill Lobban, said he found it “impossible to understand” the initial decision made by the committee regarding the licences.
He added: “Today, David Brown surrendered his taxi operator licences, meaning there is no longer a legal basis to proceed with tomorrow’s special meeting of the Highland Council.
“Had the item gone ahead, I am confident the full membership of the council would have made the right decision based on the information before them.”
