`Schoolboy' wanted to fulfil dream to become a doctor

Hoaxer tells of being devasted when illness forced him to drop out of his medical course

Brian MacKinnon, 32, who posed as a 17-year-old schoolboy to obtain qualifications, did so to fulfil his dream of becoming a doctor, he reveals today.

Frustration and anger at being robbed of his place studying medicine in Glasgow as a teenager prompted him to embark on his hoax, he says in an interview with the Herald newspaper.

Mr MacKinnon, who enrolled at school under the name Brandon Lee, had had to drop out of his course at Glasgow University after an illness when he was 18.

"I felt devastated. I felt as though I had been robbed and cheated out of my place at university," he said. "Ironically, I later tried to cheat my way in. This was all about regaining that stolen opportunity."

After leaving school with entry qualifications to Dundee University two years, he began a second attempt to become a doctor. But after one term he dropped out for a second time for "personal reasons".

Dundee University has given him until Wednesday to offer a full explanation or forfeit his latest place studying medicine.

In the Herald, Mr MacKinnon said: "I am truly sorry for any adverse effect caused by me. I appreciate the kindness shown me both at the school and at Dundee University."

He said he concocted a new persona as Brandon Lee and a totally new identity after exhausting every avenue in pursuit of the medical career he craved.

"I determined to make one last attempt to study for a medical degree," he said. "However, aged 29 and with my particular background I realised that there was no realistic possibility of my doing so in straightforward fashion.

"It was at that point I undertook to employ essentially dishonest means to achieve this purpose."

He admitted that he was willing to falsify documents in order to clear the way for his chosen path which had been blocked by "an unconcerned system".

He said he was intensely nervous when he went back to school posing as a 17-year-old fifth form student.

When he was interviewed by the head teacher of Bearsden Academy, in Glasgow, he was afraid that his scheme would be uncovered.

"I was aware of the possibility of being caught at all times but I had made a conscious decision this was the only way forward for me."

As things turned out his year at school went surprisingly well and he gained entry qualifications to Dundee University's medical school.

"The whole year went surprisingly smoothly and at times I was quite at ease," he said, but added: "There was no sense of a Peter Pan situation where I was actively enjoying myself. I was never comfortable with the role I was playing but I managed to put it to the back of my mind by concentrating on my work."

Mr Brandon said that despite wanting to perform well, he "had to keep his foot off the accelerator" to avoid standing out or ending up in local newspaper, where he could be recognised, for having won prizes.