An armed robber who insists he was wrongly convicted was back behind bars last night – for driving while disqualified.
Former Gordounston pupil Paul Macklin, who has been in and out of jail for 20 years, claimed he wanted to put his life of crime behind him and make a fresh start in the Alps when he was released from his last major prison sentence in 2013.
But yesterday, he was jailed for four months after police caught him driving his partner’s car without insurance and whilst disqualified.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard officers stopped the silver Mitsubishi Shogun at around 2am on November 11 after it was spotted on School Road and Seaton Crescent in Aberdeen.
When they approached the vehicle they found Macklin in the driver’s seat and discovered he was disqualified from driving. He was also uninsured.
Representing the repeat offender, solicitor Graham Morrison said he had taken over from driving his girlfriend’s car as she was too tired.
He said officers had found her asleep in the back seat and that his client was only going to be driving a short distance to their home in the city’s Moir Drive.
But Sheriff Donald Ferguson said there was no alternative but to send him back to jail, given his previous convictions.
Macklin has always denied brandishing a gun at two police officers during a heist in Aberdeen.
But he was jailed for eight years after a jury convicted him of trying to stage the £300,000 wages raid with a friend.
The 42-year-old has since taken his case to the Supreme Court in London in an attempt to overturn the conviction – and will find out on Wednesday if his appeal has been successful.
Macklin was released from prison in May 2013 after serving nearly 10 years for threatening the police officers with a gun.
In an exclusive interview with the Press and Journal following his release, Macklin – who comes from a family of surgeons and barristers and whose father is a retired oil boss – acknowledged he had thrown away his privileges to pursue a life of violence and claimed crime gave him the same rush as his beloved adrenalin sports.