Inverness South Councillor Duncan Macpherson has apologised to the victim of convicted rapist David Brown as he resigns from the Licensing Committee.
Brown (50) of Croy near Inverness, was jailed for six years and nine months in May following his attack on an 18-year-old female passenger in December 2023.
On Monday, we broke the news that Highland Council’s licensing committee voted in private last month to let Brown keep his taxi operator’s licence, sparking fury.
We exclusively revealed the committee’s chairman Sean Kennedy quit after admitting he was “haunted” by how the decision might have affected Brown’s victim.
LibDem John Grafton and independent Willie MacKay also stepped-down yesterday and were among six councillors who voted to let Brown keep his license.
Now Cllr Macpherson has confirmed to The Inverness Courier that he is resigning because of concerns prompted around the safety of women and girls is “too much for my conscience to bear”.
That means there are just two members of the original six still on the committee who backed the continuation of the licence, which it appears was a move to protect Brown’s wife.
In an emotional resignation letter, seen by The Inverness Courier, Cllr Macpherson denied his vote placed anyone in danger but that the perception of heightened risk was bad enough.
Cllr Macpherson said: “Speaking as a father of a daughter and a brother to three sisters, and as a grandfather, it troubles me that the decision I took in the committee has created a feeling of concern or insecurity about women’s safety in the Highlands.
“I completely refute any allegations of misogyny, however I do recognise that some of the criticism of this perception must be taken very seriously.
“I would never knowingly play any part in compromising the safety of women and girls and I sincerely do not believe that I have done so in this case.
“My concern that the safety of women and girls even appears to have been compromised is too much for my conscience to bear, and this is why I am resigning.”
He continued: “I think about this in the way members of the public might – if it was my wife or daughter in a cab, would I make the same decision again, knowing what I know now? The answer is no.
“That means I have to take responsibility and resign from all licensing commitments both at the committee and on the board.
“I fear that the taxi driver’s victim, an innocent young lady, may have had to relive her horrific experience from 2023 in a most traumatic way following all the press and media coverage that this case has now attracted and this troubles me more than I can say.
“I wish with everything I have that she did not step into his taxi that night, and if any actions of mine serving on a committee have brought back any hurt and distress to her and her family, then I am personally deeply sorry.”
He added: “A council official gave me the assurance that David Brown the taxi driver jailed for the heinous crime of rape, would never be permitted to drive a taxi for the remainder of his life, or be licensed by the Highland Council for any licensable activity whatsoever, regardless of the term of his prison sentence.”
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