Outrage of family as janitor, 60, prepares to wed ex-pupil aged just 18
A JANITOR aged 60 has caused outrage after getting engaged to a teenage former pupil at the school where he worked.
Lisa Miller, 18, asked Jim Kerr to marry her live on camera for a radio show last week and he said yes.
But it has now emerged that the father of three used to be the caretaker at the teenager’s former school before he was dimissed from his post when his bosses found out about the relationship.
It first came to light when Darren Law, a fellow former pupil at Woodfarm High, in Woodfarm, East Renfrewshire, shared a picture of the couple getting engaged on his Twitter page.
He wrote: ‘No chance. Hahaha. A girl in the year below me has got engaged to our school’s janny. Fear.’
The post received more than 2,000 likes and hundreds of comments.
But the engagement caused anger among some.
Mr Kerr’s daughter, Allison, said: ‘It’s my dad and I’m 32 so imagine how me n my family feel seeing that.’
Speaking yesterday, she said she had ‘nothing more’ to do with her father, but declined to comment further.
Arooj Fatima Malik said: ‘I wonder what the school thinks about this and whether he still works there?! She’s only 18, so so wrong.’
The pair got engaged last Friday as they were interviewed on camera for local radio station West FM while visiting the Scottish International Airshow in Ayr.
They posted a video on their website showing Miss Miller proposing to grandfather Mr Kerr while they stood beside the beach in Ayr.
She can be heard saying: ‘Jim, we’ve been going out for just under a year and I love you so much. I wouldn’t swap you for the world and, marry me?’
Mr Kerr is then shown smiling and quickly responding ‘yes, definitely’, before leaning in for a kiss.
After the proposal, the teenager, from Thornliebank, Glasgow, is shown wiping away tears before cuddling up to her fiancé.
A source close to the couple said that the relationship started in March, after Miss Miller’s 18th birthday.
BAM Construct UK, the contractor which employed Mr Kerr, said he was dismissed when it discovered the relationship in the same month.
A spokesman said: ‘We were informed about this in March and suspended him the same day.
‘The school is fully aware and was informed over an email.
‘He had worked at the school for ten years. The pupil had left the school and was over
‘Girl was over age of consent’
the age of consent when we became aware of it.
‘At the time we became aware of this, the girl was over the age of consent so legally they hadn’t done anything wrong but professionally we did what we had to do. The investigation has now concluded.’
Asked whether there had been any previous investigations into Mr Kerr, he added: ‘If there had been any suspihad
‘He was never on council staff’
cion given, we would not hesitate to take action.’
A source close to the couple, who did not wish to be named, said they got together when Mr Kerr was going through a divorce from his wife, Marion.
They said: ‘Lisa had not been at school for almost two years when she started seeing Jim in March. They didn’t know each other at school, but they bumped into each other after she had left and got talking. It was then they realised that he worked there and she had gone to school there.
‘She loves him with all her heart. She doesn’t see herself as a victim as people have been saying. He has helped her a lot and they will stick together through this. Jim left the company that he was working for.’
The source said that Miss Miller’s family were supportive, as were Mr Kerr’s family, except his daughter.
Miss Miller’s grandfather, Graeme Henderson, said he did not want to comment on the relationship but said ‘we are supportive of her’.
A neighbour of Miss Miller’s mother, Nicola, said she was a ‘lovely wee girl’ growing up.
The neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said: ‘I think her mother accepts it, or she wouldn’t see her daughter.’
The couple could not be reached last night.
East Renfrewshire Council confirmed: ‘This individual no longer works at the school.
‘He was never a member of council staff but was employed by the PFI contractor for the campus.’