IN THE NEWS
MILTON KEYNES RAPIST TAXI SCANDAL: DEPUTY COUNCIL LEADER APOLOGISES
A deputy council leader has apologised for his part in allowing a serial rapist to get a licence to drive a PHV. BBC News reports that Lib Dem Robin Bradburn took on the role at Milton Keynes Coun- cil after his party and Labour formed a coalition. But taxi drivers have called for him to resign over his decision to grant Nadeem Ahmed Kiani a licence in 2014. The council revoked Kiani’s licence in 2014 after it was revealed he had been given a private hire licence by the licensing committee in 2011. A second committee had lifted a sus- pension on his licence in 2012, despite Thames Valley Police having written to the authority giving details of Kiani’s convictions for raping and assaulting sex workers in London, in 1994. Councillors Stuart Burke and Gladstone McKenzie resigned from the council’s
licensing commit- tee as a result. Mr McKenzie also stood down from the council, while Mr Burke lost his seat at the next election.
Robin Bradburn
Subhan Shafiq, who had vouched for Kiani as a friend in 2011, resigned as Mayor and later quit as a councillor. Mr Bradburn had sat on both commit- tees, but had lost his Bradwell seat in May 2014, three months before the scandal broke. As he was no longer a councillor, Mr Bradburn avoided much of the scrutiny his colleagues faced. He was then re-elected in 2015, despite concrns being raised. Mr Bradburn had told a 2014 council investigation into the scandal that
“everyone is saying [Kiani] was a risk but he has not done anything in 14 years since his release”. He added he was “confident the right decisions were made”. Following May’s local election, Labour’s Peter Marland continued as council leader, while Mr Bradburn became his deputy. At the time of the taxi scandal, Mr Marland had said the decision to grant Kiani a licence had been a “tragedy” and the incident had “dam- aged the reputation of Milton Keynes.” Angry taxi drivers told BBC Three Counties Radio Mr Bradburn should not continue as deputy leader. Mr Bradburn, who admitted he had been aware of Kiani’s offences when making the decision, said “the matter has lived in my memory” and he had learnt from his mistake.
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