Subject:  Rot in hell, Tam": Bay City Rollers stars blast former manager after his death |
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Cathy
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Date Posted: 15:31:57 04/10/09 Fri
BAY City Rollers stars last night said they hoped exmanager Tam Paton would rot in hell.
The band's former guitarist Pat McGlynn - who Paton was cleared of raping in a hotel room in 1977 - said: "This is the best news I've had in ages. I've been partying all day." Speaking from his home in Liberton, Edinburgh, Pat added: "Tam was a very bad guy but he had contacts in high places.
"I hope he is roasting in hell now. When I get there, I want a job stoking the fires.
"Who knows what happened to his money. I'd like to know, so I could steal it back." He said he had spoken to ex-Rollers singer Les McKeown on the phone and that he "was over the moon too".
McKeown told the Record: "It's a happy day for Scotland, now that we're finally rid of that embarrassment. It couldn't have happened to a nicer chap.
"I'm not the kind of person to dance on someone's grave but he was extremely bad to me during my career with the Rollers and caused me a lot of pain and suffering.
"The man was a thug, a predator and a drug-dealing b*****d."
Les believes the band will get cash they are claiming from Arista Records - but insisted he didn't want a penny from Paton's estate.
He said: "I wouldn't want any of his money. It's all ill-gotten gains and it would be cursed." Les, who lives in London with Japanese wife Peko and their son Richard and no longer drinks after battling alcohol addiction, said: "I'll celebrate with a cup of tea and a scone." But the original Rollers singer Nobby Clark, who started up the band with Alan and Derek Longmuir, paid tribute to controversial Paton.
He said: "I'm still a bit shocked. I met Tam when I was 15 and I was just thinking about the years were on the road. He will be missed, regardless of what some people think about him. There was only one Tam Paton.
"For all his escapades, he was a likeable guy. He was the sort of person who was difficult not to like, despite what he got up to.
"Tam and I were friends. We stayed in touch. I was just thinking the other night, before this happened, that I would give him a call, as I hadn't spoken to him in a few weeks." Paton, who had suffered two previous heart attacks and a stroke, was relaxing in his plunge pool before he died.
One room in his mansion in Gogar, near the Royal Bank of Scotland headquarters, features the pool, a massive hot tub, sauna and an exercise area. One of several men who share his mansion heard him gasping for breath and groaning on Wednesday night and raced through, jumping into the pool fully clothed.
But despite the efforts of another man and a paramedic who raced to the scene on a motorbike, they were unable to lift Paton, who weighed around 25 stones, out of the pool.
A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Police confirmed: "We attended a call to Gogar Station Road, Edinburgh, regarding the death of a 70-year-old male following a reported cardiac arrest.
"There are no suspicious circumstances and a report will be sent to the procurator fiscal." It is understood Paton's property empire will be managed by a group of trustees and some of his millions will be divided up between animal and children's charities, including the Canine Defence League, the Dog Aid Trust and children's hospice charity CHAS.
Dog lover Paton kept a couple of Rottweilers and Staffordshire bull terriers.
Paton once said he wanted to be cremated to the sound of Bing Crosby singing That's The Way Life Is.
His colourful career saw him steer the Bay City Rollers to the top of the charts, achieving worldwide success and becoming one of the biggest pop sensations of the 1970s.
The son of a Prestonpans potato merchant, he bought his mansion in Gogar for £29,000 in 1974 because of its proximity to the airport.
During the 1970s, Paton ran a band night from the Palais in Fountainbridge, where an early version of the Bay City Rollers started out.
But Paton later spent years contesting cash wrangles with members of the band over royalties.
Since the Bay City Rollers split 30 years ago, McKeown, Stuart"Woody" Wood, the Longmuirs and Eric Faulkner have been locked in a bitter feud over claims of missing cash.
The group became sex symbols, touring the world performing hits including Bye Bye Baby.
After being sacked as the band's manager in 1979, he developed a multi-million-pound property empire based in Edinburgh. His business investments and deals left him a wealthy man with his mansion at Little Kellerstain and a Spanish villa.
But many - including police sources - claim he made most of his cash as a cannabis kingpin.
He was twice convicted for supplying the drug.
But Paton always insisted he was not a drug baron.
He said the cannabis found at his home was simply for residents to share - and that his £8million property empire was the result of shrewd purchasing in the early 80s and income from housing homeless people.
Last September, Paton was arrested yet again on drug charges, before being bailed for health reasons.
He was held over allegations he was dealing substances after police arrested him in an Edinburgh car park.
It's claimed he was in possession of herbal cannabis and cannabis resin and was attempting to supply the class C drugs.
In 2007, Paton was attacked by a gang of men.
Liverpool-based John Conroy, 28, John Dougherty, 29, and Phillip Woolley, 19, were all jailed at Edinburgh Sheriff Court after admitting brandishing knives and threatening to stab Paton.
Paton was forced to flee his mansion after a business deal went wrong and the trio demanded money.
Speaking after the men were jailed, he said: "It seems to happen to me because my name is Tam Paton and sometimes I think the sooner I leave this country, the better.
"But I will never leave Edinburgh and will just need to be more careful - I certainly won't be letting that lot in here again."
Paton's brother David, who lives with wife Barbara in Cockenzie, East Lothian, yesterday returned from the mansion wearing a smart grey suit.
David, 79, said: "It's a sad time. I've just come from his home. I'll be sorting out his funeral arrangements.
"I know Tam was no stranger to talking to the Press but I'm a different kettle of fish, I'm afraid, and I'd rather not comment." Last night, a man answering the phone at Paton's sprawling mansion said nobody there wanted to make any comment to the media.
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