Tam Paton was the manager and primary spokesman for the Bay City Rollers in the 70s (Picture: George Wilkes/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
An inquiry has heard that ex-Bay City Rollers manager Thomas Dougal ‘Tam’ Paton was ‘100%’ involved in a paedophile ring, with a witness giving evidence about their time as a children’s home resident.
Members of the hugely successful band have spoken out in the past about their time under Paton’s management, with guitarist Stuart ‘Woody’ Wood branding him a ‘true monster’, claiming he was abused.
He met Paton as a teenager, with the group forming in the late 60s, calling the alleged abuse he endured a ‘horrific and harrowing time’.
Les McKeown, the late singer for the band, has also said before that Paton had raped him and given him drugs to cope with touring and the pressures of fame.
When McKeown died at age 65 in 2021, doctors said his fatal cardiac arrest had, in part, been caused by his alcohol and drug abuse over the years.
Paton himself died of a suspected heart attack at his home in Edinburgh on April 8, 2009, at age 70. Throughout his life, he was involved in numerous legal controversies.
The band was managed by Paton during their most successful period (Picture: Michael Putland/Getty Images)
Speaking of his experience with Paton and giving evidence using the pseudonym Murphy, a witness has now told how young boys were ‘groomed’ at parties at Paton’s house in the early 1980s.
Murphy, who was in his early teens at the time, was a resident at Ponton House in the city. He said he went to parties at Paton’s house because others were.
Appearing before the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI) today, he recalled how drugs and alcohol were available and indecent films would be shown at the parties, saying older men would take underage boys off to rooms.
As per Murphy’s account, two people he thought were judges also attended the parties, as well as professionals who wore suits and had ‘fancy cars’.
Describing one of his experiences, he said: ‘I was fed drugs in Tam’s living room, and a guy came and took me to a room.
‘I took a knife with me. I took the knife out, and the guy jumped up and told me he was a judge.’
He said he then felt a pain in his head, fell unconscious, and was later taken to a car and away from the scene.
Members of the Scottish pop group have spoken out in the past about abuse (Picture: Michael Ochs Archives /Getty Images)
Paton, pictured here at home in 2003, was involved in a number of legal controversies throughout his life (Picture: Craig Westwood/Shutterstock)
Inquiry judge Lady Smith asked whether attending the parties was at first a ‘what’s not to like’ situation.
Murphy agreed, until things ‘got sexual’, saying that, ‘at first, it was drugs, then later it was like we were groomed’.
‘It was not like you were taken in and there were guys touching you; it was lots of times through the day, and you got something to drink, then later on it would be at night.’
He told the inquiry he also encountered convicted sex offender John Wilson, now in his 80s. Wilson was jailed for more than 12 years in December 2022 after he was convicted of sexual offences spanning 56 years, including sexually assaulting three teenage boys.
Claiming to have seen Wilson inside Ponton House, Murphy said that Paton would sit outside in his car, waiting to pick up boys and take them into his parties.
The witness said that when he was older, he became an ‘enforcer’ for Paton and would find boys for him. He said that he was threatened with violence and the sharing of compromising photos of him if he didn’t follow suit.
James Peoples KC, lead senior counsel to the inquiry, asked: ‘Are you in any doubt that what was happening was a paedophile ring?’
A witness told how young boys were ‘groomed’ at parties at Paton’s house (Picture: George Wilkes/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Murphy replied: ‘100%.’
The witness said he was not proud of having procured boys for Paton, but said that on one occasion, he was threatened with a knife by someone acting for Paton. He was scared for what might happen if he didn’t comply.
Lady Smith asked how Paton made him feel, to which Murphy said he was ‘terrified’.
Murphy also suggested Paton was a man who used his connections with high-profile figures to get what he wanted, saying, ‘Tam was a man who liked to tell you what power he had. He didn’t hide who he knew.’
The witness added that he did not understand why he had been placed in Ponton House, where he was one of the youngest, as it was more of a hostel for older boys.
Mr Peoples asked whether staff at Ponton House knew what was going on and turned a ‘blind eye’, and the witness replied: ‘Yes, as far as I’m concerned.’
Paton, who managed the Rollers through their most successful period, was jailed for three years in 1982 for sex offences involving teenage boys over 10 years. He pleaded guilty.
The convicted child sex offender died in April 2009 (Picture: George Wilkes/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
The Ponton Trust in 2023 succeeded the Ponton House Trust, which took over the sale proceeds of the house after it was sold in the early 1980s.
A statement on behalf of the Ponton Trust was given at the opening of the latest phase of the inquiry in January and said: ‘The trustees of the Ponton Trust unequivocally condemn and abhor any such abuse and offer an apology to any young person who was subjected to abuse while residing at the Ponton House Boys’ Residence.’
The current phase of the inquiry is considering the provision of residential care for children and young people in establishments run by local authorities and establishments run by voluntary providers used by local authorities and others to place children in care.
The inquiry continues.
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