Failed medical student who posed as schoolboy in bizarre plot to become a doctor in 1993 breaks into the bedroom of the professor he still blames and threatens to kill him

The man who gained worldwide notoriety by returning to his old school as a pupil 13 years after leaving was last night behind bars after carrying out a terrifying death threat attack on his former university professor.Brian MacKinnon ambushed Professor Brian Whiting and his wife in their home and threatened to kill them, just hours after the academic made comments about him in a movie starring actor Alan Cumming, which had aired on the BBC.MacKinnon originally made headlines around the world after pretending to be a 16-year-old Canadian boy named Brandon Lee and re-enrolling at his former school.He carried out the bizarre ruse in 1993, with the 30-year-old even being taught by some of his old teachers.He had originally left Bearsden Academy in 1980 to attend the University of Glasgow to follow his dream of becoming a doctor but he was asked to leave after twice failing his exams.It was then that he hatched the astonishing plot to return to school as an adult, retake his Higher exams and win a place to study medicine at Dundee University.Incredibly, his brazen deception paid off and he was able to start his medical degree – only for his scam to unravel in 1995 when his true identity was exposed, with Dundee University then expelling him.But last week it emerged in court that MacKinnon, now 63, had harboured a decades-long grudge against Professor Brian Whiting, the former Dean of the University of Glasgow’s medical school and the man he believes first thwarted his chances of becoming a doctor. Brian MacKinnon poses as a 16-year-old at his old school Brian MacKinnon as a teenagerProfessor Whiting, 87, and his wife Marlene, 83, were subjected to a ‘terrifying’ ordeal by a masked MacKinnon which saw him hide in their home for nine hours, creep into their bedroom in the middle of the night and threaten to kill them.As the couple lay helpless in bed, MacKinnon demanded that the retired academic publicly admit that there had been a conspiracy to stop him from studying medicine.The High Court in Glasgow heard how the menacing raider, who was wearing a mask, a grey cap and dark clothing, said ‘no lights’ as he entered the couple’s room.Prosecutor Eilidh Robertson told the court: ‘Mrs Whiting sat up and MacKinnon demanded she lie down or he would really hurt her.‘MacKinnon then spoke to Brian Whiting directly, blaming him and two colleagues for ruining his life and having responsibility for the death of his parents.’Professor Whiting had spoken about MacKinnon in a 1995 interview, when the story of his schoolboy fraud emerged, and said at the time: ‘He was asked to leave after he’d been given every possible chance of succeeding, even with a second-year resit, which he then failed to complete successfully.’His interview was reused in the 2022 docu-drama about the affair, My Old School, which saw Hollywood star Cumming play MacKinnon. The film was shown by BBC Scotland at 10.15pm on September 27 last year. The next day, an incensed MacKinnon launched the terrifying home invasion.During the attack, MacKinnon demanded the retired academic retract his previous statements about him and claimed he had a network of spies who would be monitoring the couple’s behaviour and if they didn’t do as he said they would ‘be dead’. MacKinnon caught on camera in Glasgow four years ago Professor Whiting in 1995On Thursday, MacKinnon pled guilty to attempted extortion and is now being held on remand in Glasgow’s Barlinnie prison.The Crown accepted not guilty pleas for five other charges including possession of two push daggers and an unlicensed stun gun, and a breach of the peace.Judge Lady Anwar 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.’Professor Whiting told The Mail on Sunday he had not heard from MacKinnon in the 30 years since his hoax was exposed, while his wife said the raid had been ‘terrifying’.She said: ‘What happened was absolutely out of the blue. We’re trying to live a quiet and peaceful life and it’s been totally disturbed by this incident. It was terrifying.’The details of the raid on the Whitings’ home were revealed during the court case. On September 28, MacKinnon entered their house in the leafy west End of Glasgow at around 4.30pm. Professor Whiting was in the study while his wife was in the garden and the back door was unlocked.MacKinnon hid in the home undetected for nine hours, until the couple awoke around 1.30am to the sound of their bedroom door opening. MacKinnon said ‘no lights’ as he entered the room before threatening to hurt Mrs Whiting if she didn’t lie back down in her bed.Ms Robertson told the court: ‘The Whitings were very frightened by this point. MacKinnon then pointed at her husband and asked: “Is that Brian Whiting?”’MacKinnon told the couple he had brought two statements which he wanted the couple to ‘release’.‘He said if they did not comply and if the media were not involved then they would both be killed and their families hurt,’ the prosecutor said. ‘He then placed two envelopes containing typed statements onto the bed.’Mrs Whiting did not know who the intruder was before he said his name was ‘Brian MacKinnon’. Medical student MacKinnon failed his examsMs Robertson said it was at this point that MacKinnon blamed Brian Whiting and two of the academic’s colleagues for ruining his life and claimed they also bore responsibility for the death of his parents. He then briefly left the room and, on his return, suddenly asked to be let out of the house.Mrs Whiting got up and led him downstairs, hoping he would go.The pensioner got a good look at MacKinnon when he took off his mask. The advocate depute said: ‘She unlocked the front door. As MacKinnon was leaving, he stated that he had people working for him that would check if the witnesses were complying with his demands.‘If not, they would be dead. He then left the house.’ Mrs Whiting called her son. He showed her an online photo of MacKinnon and she confirmed he had been the raider.The two statements left by MacKinnon had been made to look as if they had been completed by Professor Whiting.Each alleged the retired Dean had ‘succumbed to intolerable pressure to make a misleading statement about Brian Lachlan MacKinnon’.They also said: ‘Via a BBC Scotland television broadcast, I stated falsely that MacKinnon had not met the required standard as a medical student after he had set out to study medicine at Glasgow in 1980. Nothing could have been further from the truth.’The documents claimed there had been a ‘conspiracy’ to exclude ‘incandescently bright’ students like MacKinnon.They also included ‘defamatory’ remarks about Glasgow University, BBC Scotland and Alan Cumming. MacKinnon was held by police after returning to his house in Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire, hours after the incident.In the home, officers found a mobile phone and three notepads, with one of the notepads containing handwritten text which read: ‘I will regain a place to study medicine at a reputable university’.An envelope was also seized and a statement similar to those given to the Whitings was found inside.MacKinnon made no comment when quizzed by police. He was brought into court in a wheelchair on Thursday. Sean Templeton, defending, told the hearing: ‘It is clear he has had an extraordinary life, thrust into the public gaze in the 1990s by attending a school when he was over the age of 18.’He said MacKinnon had always wanted to be involved in medicine to ‘assist the public’, but his ‘ambitions to become a doctor came to an end’. Mr Templeton said that after he was exposed, the scandal had ‘characterised’ his life in the many years since, including the Alan Cumming show which MacKinnon ‘did not agree to’.MacKinnon had been assessed by a psychiatrist after his initial appearance in court in late September 2025, but it was concluded that he was fit to stand trial. Mr Templeton described his client as ‘frail’ and suffering from uncontrolled movements in one of his arms.Lady Anwar continued his remand in custody. Sentencing was deferred for reports until a later date.