Sir Jackie Stewart: I was millimetres away from a life of violence

EDINBURGH - Racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart has admitted he was “millimetres” away from a life of crime because of crippling dyslexia which, even today, leaves him unable to fill in a drivers’ licence application form.

The Formula One star, originally from Dumbarton, yesterday admitted he still struggles with the learning difficulty.

Speaking in Edinburgh’s Central Library to launch Dyslexia Awareness Week as president of Dyslexia Scotland, the Scotsman quoted Sir Jackie, 71, as saying: “Libraries are places I never entered, there was a Carnegie library in Dumbarton, but I would never have dared go in because it would have shown up that I couldn’t read and I was so embarrassed not to be able to read or write or spell.”

“I never joined the Cubs as I thought I would be found out to be dumb or stupid as happened at school,” he added.

However, he said he believed that the change in schools since his childhood had been “magnificent”.

Sir Jackie praised the current Scottish Government for bringing in new rules stipulating that every student teacher must learn about the condition - and for the Additional Support for Learning Act which ensures every child has a right to a diagnosis of any learning difficulty.

But he warned that implementation of the rules across Scotland varied widely from council to council.

Sir Jackie will be at Saughton Prison in Edinburgh today, where he revealed he is a regular visitor to encourage inmates to take literacy lessons. (ANI)