Schoolboy imposter admits subjecting former professor to terrifying ordeal

MacKinnon, now 63, appeared at the High Court in Glasgow on Thursday and pleaded guilty to attempted extortion. The court heard he targeted Prof Brian Whiting, 87, and his wife Marlene, 83, at their home in Glasgow’s west end on 28 September last year, the day after the BBC docudrama My Old School about his original deception was repeated.

It is believed MacKinnon sneaked into the property around 16:30, as the rear door and gate were unlocked. He hid until the Whitings went to bed around 23:30. About two hours later, they were awoken when their room door suddenly opened. A figure in dark clothes, a grey cap and a mask over the lower part of his face walked to the side of the bed and told Marlene: “No lights.”

Prosecutor Eilidh Robertson told the court: “She sat up and MacKinnon demanded that she lie back down or he would really hurt her. Both the Whitings were very frightened by this point.” MacKinnon then pointed at Prof Whiting and asked: “Is that Brian Whiting?” He said he had brought two statements he wanted the couple to release, and threatened to kill them and hurt their families if they did not comply.

Marlene did not recognise the intruder until he gave his name as Brian MacKinnon. Robertson said MacKinnon then spoke directly to Prof Whiting, blaming him and two colleagues for ruining his life and having responsibility for the death of his parents. MacKinnon briefly left the room and on his return suddenly asked to be let out. Marlene led him downstairs. She asked how he had initially got in, and he boasted: “That was easy.” Marlene unlocked the front door. As MacKinnon was leaving, he said he had people working for him who would check whether the Whitings complied; if not, they would be dead.

Marlene immediately called her son, who showed her an online photo of MacKinnon and she identified him. The two statements left by MacKinnon had been made to look as though Prof Whiting had completed them. They alleged the retired dean had “succumbed to intolerable pressure to make a misleading statement about Brian Lachlan MacKinnon” and claimed there had been a conspiracy to exclude “incandescently bright” students. The documents also included defamatory remarks about Glasgow University, BBC Scotland and Alan Cumming, who played MacKinnon in the docudrama.

DNA recovered at the house helped link MacKinnon to the crime, and CCTV from a nearby property captured him walking near the Whitings’ home. He was arrested hours later as he returned to his home in Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire. A mobile phone and three notepads were recovered; one contained a handwritten note stating: “I will regain a place to study medicine at a reputable university.” MacKinnon made no comment when questioned.

MacKinnon made headlines in the 1990s when, after being thrown out of Glasgow University medical school in 1983, he returned to Bearsden Academy in 1993 posing as Brandon Lee, a 16-year-old who supposedly had just moved to Scotland from Canada. He secured five As in his Highers and earned a place at the University of Dundee to study medicine, but an anonymous tip-off in 1995 exposed his deception. Prof Whiting was dean of the medical school when MacKinnon was thrown out and was interviewed by BBC Scotland at the time; that footage was used in the 2022 docudrama.

Defence advocate Sean Templeton told the court MacKinnon had always wanted to be involved in medicine but his ambitions came to an end. He said the exposure had characterised MacKinnon’s life since the 1990s, and that MacKinnon did not agree to the docudrama. Templeton described MacKinnon as frail, suffering from uncontrolled movements in one arm. A psychiatrist assessed him after his initial appearance, and it was eventually concluded he was fit to stand trial.

Lady Anwar continued MacKinnon’s remand in custody as sentencing was deferred for reports. He is currently being held at HMP Barlinnie. She told him: “You subjected Mr and Mrs Whiting, both in their 80s, to a shocking and terrifying ordeal in their home. It is likely you will face a significant custodial sentence.”