Tam Paton

{{short description|British businessman and musical manager}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}} {{Infobox criminal | name = Thomas Dougal "Tam" Paton | birth_name = Thomas Dougal Paton | birth_date = {{birth date|1938|8|5|df=y}} | birth_place = Prestonpans, Scotland | death_date = {{death date and age|2009|4|8|1938|8|5|df=y}} | death_place = Edinburgh, Scotland | other_names = Tam Paton | criminal_charges = Child sexual abuse, drug offences | criminal_penalty = 3-year prison sentence (1982), £200,000 fine (2004) | conviction_status = Deceased }}

'''Thomas Dougal''' "'''Tam'''" '''Paton''' (5 August 1938 – 8 April 2009) was a convicted child sex offender and pop group manager, most notably of the Scottish boy band the Bay City Rollers.

==Biography== Born in Prestonpans, Scotland, he was the son of a potato merchant.<ref name="Sweeting">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/apr/10/tam-paton-obituary|title=Obituary: Tam Paton|first=Adam|last=Sweeting|newspaper=The Guardian |date=9 April 2009|via=www.theguardian.com|access-date=13 November 2018|archive-date=22 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422134923/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/apr/10/tam-paton-obituary|url-status=live}}</ref> Paton initially{{when|date=June 2019}} drove a truck to aid the Bay City Rollers financially. He guided the band through to their period of success during the mid-1970s, nurturing their image of being the "boys next door". He was responsible for beginning a myth that the band members preferred drinking milk to alcohol, in order to cultivate a clean, innocent image. However, vocalist Les McKeown later said Paton introduced the band members to drugs. "When we got a wee bit tired, he'd give us amphetamines," McKeown recalled in 2005. "He'd keep us awake with speed, black bombers. You end up almost showing off to each other what stupid drugs you've taken."<ref name="Sweeting" />

In 1979, Paton was fired as manager, and subsequently developed a multi-million-pound real estate business based in Edinburgh, Scotland.{{citation needed|date=June 2019}}

In the late 1970s Paton managed the band Rosetta Stone, and had a romantic relationship with the guitarist Paul Lerwill, who later changed his name to Gregory Gray.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hotpress.com/music/gregory-gray-aka-mary-cigarettes-died-22772247|title=Gregory Gray, AKA Mary Cigarettes, has died|website=Hotpress|access-date=6 June 2019|archive-date=2 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190602204043/https://www.hotpress.com/music/gregory-gray-aka-mary-cigarettes-died-22772247|url-status=live}}</ref>

In his autobiography ''I Ran With The Gang: My Life In And Out Of The Bay City Rollers'' (2018), Alan Longmuir suggests Paton benefited from friendships with politicians, police officers and senior members of the justiciary, and wrote of his fears that more will emerge about Paton that will show “his depravity ran deeper than we currently know”.

Longmuir states: {{Blockquote |text= He had friends in high and low places. The friends in high places included politicians and senior members of the police and judiciary. The friends in low places included scum that would slash your face for a bag of Tam’s finest Colombian cocaine. A dangerous combination.

... I could not help noticing boys drifting around the house. 'Who are all these boys, Tam?' I asked. 'They’re Edinburgh's waifs and strays'. My brow furrowed. 'Alan, the police bring them here. It's all above board. The police find them on the streets and to keep them out of trouble they bring them here.' }}

==Criminal convictions and child sex abuse allegations== Paton was involved in a number of legal controversies.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.scotsman.com/baycityrollers/ExRollers-manager-is-cleared-on.3319381.jp |title=Ex-Rollers manager is cleared on rape claims |work=The Scotsman |date=21 August 2007 |access-date=2 November 2013 |archive-date=25 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100325170001/http://news.scotsman.com/baycityrollers/ExRollers-manager-is-cleared-on.3319381.jp |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1982 he was jailed for three years after pleading guilty to the sexual abuse of 10 boys over a three-year period.<ref name="scotsman">{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/welcome-tam-patons-weird-world-2513274|title=Welcome to Tam Paton's weird world|website=www.scotsman.com|date=26 January 2007 }}</ref>

He was arrested on child sexual abuse charges in January 2003, but was later cleared of all allegations.<ref name="bbc1">{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/2837665.stm|title=Rollers boss sex inquiry dropped|date=10 March 2003|via=news.bbc.co.uk|access-date=27 November 2007|archive-date=2 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702234133/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/2837665.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> In April 2004, Paton was convicted of supplying cannabis and fined £200,000.<ref name="bbc2">{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3674213.stm|title=Ex-Rollers boss fined £200,000|date=30 April 2004|via=news.bbc.co.uk|access-date=27 November 2007|archive-date=2 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702234726/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3674213.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2003, he was accused of trying to rape the Bay City Rollers guitarist Pat McGlynn, in a hotel room in 1977.<ref name="scotsman1">{{citation |date=22 August 2007 |title=Former Rollers manager Paton cleared of rape claim |periodical=The Scotsman |url=http://news.scotsman.com/baycityrollers/Former-Rollers-manager-Paton-cleared.3319561.jp |access-date=10 April 2009 |location=Edinburgh |first=Rhiannon |last=Edward |archive-date=15 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215123038/http://news.scotsman.com/baycityrollers/Former-Rollers-manager-Paton-cleared.3319561.jp |url-status=dead }}</ref> The police decided there was insufficient evidence for a prosecution.<ref name="scotsman.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/tam-paton-bedroom-bulldozed-after-seedy-history-1-3216828|title=Tam Paton bedroom bulldozed after 'seedy' history|website=Edinburghnews.scotsman.com|access-date=1 December 2017|archive-date=26 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726111903/https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/tam-paton-bedroom-bulldozed-after-seedy-history-1-3216828|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2016, Bay City Rollers singer Les McKeown accused Paton of raping him.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McEwen |first=Alan |date=17 November 2016 |title=Bay City Rollers pervert Tam Paton urged band to have sex with paedophile DJ |url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/bay-city-rollers-gordon-clark-9059841 |access-date=2023-06-30 |website=Daily Record |language=en}}</ref> In the documentary ''Secrets of the Bay City Rollers'' (2023):<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.itv.com/watch/secrets-of-the-bay-city-rollers/10a3399 |title=Secrets of the Bay City Rollers |website=ITVX |publisher=ITV |access-date=28 November 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WETXj7a3eMk |title=Secrets of the Bay City Rollers |website=YouTube |access-date=28 November 2023}}</ref> {{Blockquote |text= Presenter Nicky Campbell uncovers a near inconceivably sadistic and far-reaching network of cruelty that the young men comprising Scottish pop rock band Bay City Rollers were forced to endure – as their manager Tam Paton controlled every aspect of their lives, sexually and emotionally abused them and facilitated their abuse by others. Those triggered by sexual violence and child abuse should give this programme the widest possible berth as it unflinchingly lays bare not just the abuse of the band, but also the widespread sexual abuse of children in Scotland in the 1970s.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Latif |first=Leila |date=2023-06-29 |title=Secrets of the Bay City Rollers review – one of the most disturbing accounts of abuse imaginable |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/jun/29/secrets-of-the-bay-city-rollers-review-one-of-the-most-disturbing-accounts-of-abuse-imaginable |access-date=2023-06-30 |issn=}}</ref> }} In 2023, Gert Magnus, who had lived at a children's home, claimed that Paton blackmailed him into taking other youngsters to his house so he could sexually abuse them. In the 1970s Magnus had lived at Paton's Little Kellerstain home near Edinburgh, and had been told by Paton that, if he procured other boys for him from care homes, he would stop raping him. While at Paton's house, he said, "There were always parties and lots of young boys and lots of producers... Going to the room and coming out. Big party." He also recalled Jimmy Savile being present. "I was so young. And I thought that's normal in this business," he said. The band's original singer Nobby Clarke elsewhere said that Paton once told him the band would get better promotion on BBC Radio 1 if a member slept with DJ Chris Denning, who was later convicted of paedophilia.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Amin |first=Meghna |date=28 June 2023 |title='Bay City Rollers manager said he'd stop raping me if I got him boys from care homes' |work=Metro |url=https://metro.co.uk/2023/06/28/bay-city-rollers-manager-said-hed-stop-raping-me-if-i-got-him-other-boys-19029818/ |access-date=28 November 2023 |issn=}}</ref>

In October 2022 John Wilson was convicted of sexually assaulting children, with Paton, at Paton's home.<ref>{{cite news |last=Finlay |first=Dave |date=18 October 2022 |title=Sex offender found guilty of abusing boy with Bay City Rollers manager in 1970s |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/sex-offender-found-guilty-of-abusing-boy-with-bay-city-rollers-manager-in-1970s-bc6jgf6qz |work=The Times |access-date=28 November 2023 |ref=none}}</ref>

==Death== Paton died of a suspected heart attack aged 70 at his Edinburgh home on 8 April 2009.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.scotsman.com/baycityrollers/ExBay-City-Rollers-boss-Tam.5157028.jp |title=Ex-Bay City Rollers boss Tam Paton found dead in bath |publisher=News.scotsman.com |date=10 April 2009 |access-date=2 November 2013 |archive-date=12 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412122525/http://news.scotsman.com/baycityrollers/ExBay-City-Rollers-boss-Tam.5157028.jp |url-status=dead }}</ref> At the time of his death he weighed {{convert|25|stone}}.<ref name="scotsman.com"/> On the night of his death, drugs and cash worth £1.5m were stolen from his house.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/drugs-cash-worth-15m-stolen-9034050 | title=Drugs and cash worth £1.5m stolen Bay City Rollers manager on night he died | date=13 October 2016 }}</ref>

== See also == *Jimmy Savile *Edgardo Díaz

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==

*Allen, Ellis (1975). ''The Bay City Rollers''. Panther. {{ISBN|978-0-58604325-7}}. *Coy, Wayne (2021). ''Bay City Babylon: The Unbelievable but True Story of the Bay City Rollers''. Wheatmark. {{ISBN|979-8-53475452-0}}. *Jonsson, Hannes A. (2022). ''Don't Stop the Music: The Bay City Rollers on Record'' (2nd ed.). Independently published. {{ISBN|979-8-84120575-3}}. * Stambler, Irwin (1974). ''Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock and Soul''. St. Martin's Press. {{ISBN|0-312-25025-8}}. *McKeown, Les; Elliott, Lynne (2019). ''SHANG-A-LANG: My Life with the Bay City Rollers''. Mainstream Publishing Company. {{ISBN|978-1-70129438-7}}. *Paton, Tam; Wale, Michael (1975). ''The Bay City Rollers: Tam Paton’s Sensational Inside Story of Britain’s No. 1 Pop Group''. Everest Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0-90392560-0}}. *Rogan, Johnny (1988). ''Starmakers & Svengalis: The History of British Pop Management''. Macdonald. {{ISBN|978-0-35615138-0}}. *Spence, Simon (2016). ''When the Screaming Stops: The Dark History of the Bay City Rollers''. Omnibus Press. {{ISBN|978-1-78305937-9}}. *Longmuir, Alan; Knight, Martin (2021). ''I Ran With The Gang: My Life In and Out of the Bay City Rollers'' (2nd ed.). Luath Press. {{ISBN|1-910-02275-6}}. *Wood, Stuart; Stoneman, Peter (2025). ''MANIA: Tartan, turmoil and my life as a Bay City Roller''. Blink Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1-7851-2198-2}}.

{{Pedophilia}}

{{Bay City Rollers}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Paton, Tam}} Category:1938 births Category:2009 deaths Category:20th-century Scottish criminals Category:21st-century Scottish criminals Category:Bay City Rollers Category:British people convicted of child sexual abuse Category:Drug dealers Category:Gay businessmen Category:Human trafficking Category:Organized crime Category:Scottish LGBTQ businesspeople Category:Scottish gay men Category:People from Prestonpans Category:20th-century Scottish businesspeople Category:Scottish music managers Category:Scottish people convicted of drug offences Category:20th-century Scottish LGBTQ people Category:21st-century Scottish LGBTQ people