It's true, there really are male brains and lady brains

I don’t think it is appropriate to allow the business to change hands. It should be shut down. There’s far too much likelihood that misogynistic attitudes were ubiquitous at the firm if the head of it not only raped a passenger but actually got convicted.

Harsh. We don't know anything about the relationship or the firm (except that there are two operating licences, and, therefore, at least two vehicles and one employee (?)).

Presumably the wife could not force a transfer of the licences to her while he was awaiting trial, so it's his imprisonment that's precipitated a complete closedown of operations.

I don't see why his family and the firm's employee(s) should be punished for his crime.

And how is she supposed to swan off and 'start her own taxi firm'? The firm's capital is tied up in the existing vehicles, the operating licences for which are owned by the husband. If there's a divorce all this will have to be unpicked.

One of the male voters has resigned from the licensing committee, not as a councillor.

From the article:

He said that with the benefit of hindsight and information that was not available on the day of the meeting, an alternative decision could have been taken.

Grafton said he asked officials if there were any legal implications around the licence, and had assured himself that Brown "presented no current threat".

He 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."

information that was not available on the day of the meeting, an alternative decision could have been taken

Why was a decision made without all the relevant information, if that is indeed the case?

What is the information that is now available, since the voters' names and the way in which they voted have been made public?

Not here to punish.

Does he honestly think revoking a rapist's licence, who is in jail for that rape, is a punishment? Should it not be a consequence?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9q2dqzl12zo

Totally agree. An event like this SHOULD be a bomb going off in a community's life. It shouldn't be literally business as usual.

So true.

Surely since 2024 the wife had plenty of time to get her ducks in a row, set up her own taxi company, get her own licence and move the employees to it while filing for divorce from the bastard? Unless she’s standing by her man. Even though her man is a convicted rapist. In which case if I was a councillor I would also vote against this because rape apologists are how these men get by in life. 🤮

Yes

I didn't think I could feel more contempt for local authorities.

He has been banned from taxi driving. The operator's licence is a separate issue.

those who backed the licence did not want to punish Brown’s wife for her husband’s crimes after hearing she needed the income from the taxi to provide for her family.

I'm still no clearer as to why the voting went the way it did: how is it it fighting misogyny, to prevent the perpetrator's wife from running the business while he's in gaol? Do they blame her, somehow?

YY, excellent point.

Why should the decision be a matter for the licensing council and not the police?

He obviously needs to be banned from taxi driving.

Which should have been rejected by the male councillors, along with the female councillors.

According to the Press & Journal, it was his wife who asked for his operator's licence not to be revoked:

https://archive.ph/arOn2

If this is true why was the vote not unanimous?
it was notable that all women voted against

oops x post with op

If his taxi drivers licence was suspended in Jan 2024, there has been plenty of time for the operators licence to be transferred in the meantime though. Why didn't the business get this sorted sooner? This smacks of a company that hoped/believed he was going to be found not guilty and be returning to work. I'd absolutely never as woman order a taxi from them now.

Ok, that makes more sense but very, very badly communicated.

So is this a storm in a tea cup?

From the BBC article:

"Brown was the holder of two taxi operator's licences, according to papers for Highland Licensing Committee on 23 June, external."

"Brown's taxi driver's licence, which had permitted him to drive a taxi, was suspended by Highland licensing committee in January 2024.
But his operator's licence was not suspended at that time."

His taxi driver's licence has been suspended, but not his operator's licence. That would tie in with what @RoastOrMash quoted from Jonathan Brown.

I suppose the council is restricted on what they can say because the committee proceeding are private and they can't just publish details of one case because there's media attention.

It makes sense for his operator's licence to be left in place pending transfer to another person. He's lost his (taxi) driver's licence and is in gaol, so he can do no harm, and it would be unjust for other employees of the firm covered by the licence to lose their livelihoods because of what he's done.

That doesn't explain why the situation was not more completely communicated to the female councillors, Police Scotland, and the press and general public.

Or, is it me who's completely misunderstood?

Thanks for this explanation. If correct this goes some way to mitigating the decision, but if the process had been open, or even if the council had explained their reasoning, there would have been no misunderstanding of the case in the first place. It's the secrecy and the failure to explain themselves to the people who vote for them that is the underlying issue here.

The worst part is that these are the same men who would be like 'it's not all men, I'd never assault a woman', without realising that rapists only get away with what they're doing because men like them sit back and allow it, more focused on proving they're not the bad guys than actually being good men.

Thanks for that info, I can see that if he’s in prison they might have thought it was ok. It was clear how it was going to come across though.

I saw an explanation re this story from Jonathan Brown (@ BroonJunior), who I think is a journalist.

They declined to revoke the operator/rapist's lic immediately which would have immediately shut down the business (other people work there). So the local authority is creating a short window to allow transfer of the licence to enable those other workers to keep their jobs. If there's no transfer it will be revoked in a few weeks
(summary of what he said, not verbatim)

FFFFS.