Bay City Rollers’ Stuart Wood Reveals Abuse by Manager Tam Paton

Bay City Rollers star Stuart ‘Woody’ Wood has revealed for the first time that he suffered ‘harrowing’ sex abuse at the hands of his former manager Tam Paton.

The singing icon, 68, kept the chilling campaign of abuse secret for 50 years because he was determined not to let the ordeal ‘shape his life’.

It was previously uncovered that Paton was a prolific groomer and abuser right up until his death – and now Stuart has told how he was one of his victims.

Paton is the disgraced former manager of Scottish band Bay City Rollers, who has been compared to one of the most notorious paedophiles in history, Jimmy Savile.

He was the manager of the iconic band during their 70s heyday, where they rolled out No.1 hits such as Saturday Night, Bye Bye Baby and Shang-A-Lang. 

After being fired as the band’s manager, Paton became a multi-million pound real estate agent but his later life was defined by sex abuse scandals and drug offences.

Bay City Rollers star Stuart ‘Woody’ Wood (pictured 2016) has revealed for the first time that he suffered ‘harrowing’ sex abuse at the hands of his former manager Tam Paton

The singing icon, 68, kept the chilling campaign of abuse secret for 50 years because he was determined not to let the ordeal ‘shape his life’ (Stuart pictured)

It was previously uncovered that Paton was a prolific groomer and abuser right up until his death – and now Stuart has told how he was one of his victims (pictured Paton in 2003)

He was jailed for three years in 1982 for gross indecency with teenage boys.

In his autobiography Mania, Stuart refers to Paton as a ‘true monster’ and reveals why he decided to kept his attacks a secret.

Stuart wrote: ‘I met Tam when I was 16 years old. He was intimidating and a bully, and all the disgusting things said about him are accurate.

‘He was a predator. He abused me as he did others. It was a horrific and harrowing time. The drugs he plied us with were part of that control.

‘My take is that to have a healthy mind, you have to let some things go, as much as it might pain you to do so.

‘So, when Tam’s squalid little life came to an end in 2009, I stopped thinking about him. He was a terrible human being, but the way I see it, he doesn’t get to define me.

‘Tam f******g Paton doesn’t get to win.’

Rollers’ guitarist Pat McGlynn alleged that he had been the subject of an attempted rape by Paton in 1977 in Australia, but the police could not gather sufficient evidence to mount a prosecution.

He was the manager of the iconic band during their 70s heyday, where they rolled out No.1 hits such as Saturday Night, Bye Bye Baby and Shang-A-Lang (Bay City Rollers in 1998)

After being fired as the band’s manager, Paton became a multi-million pound real estate agent but his later life was defined by sex abuse scandals and drug offences (pictured 1986)

Paton pushed back on the claim, saying it was because he was an openly gay man, and ‘if you’re gay in this country, you are considered a pervert.’

McKeown claimed in a 2015 interview that Paton had also helped another man force himself on the singer while he was high on Quaaludes.

He said: ‘Afterwards I felt really used and abused. I never told anybody about it, not even the other guys in the band, because I was ashamed.’ 

‘It was hell,’ McKeown said. ‘But we were just daft wee laddies, following someone.’

The band also accused their manager of taking up to £50 million of royalties from them, though Paton claimed to have suffered financially from record deals.

In 1982 he pled guilty to molesting 10 boys across a three-year period, for which he served one year of a three-year sentence.

‘Afterwards I felt really used and abused. I never told anybody about it, not even the other guys in the band, because I was ashamed.’

Nobby Clarke, who was the original Rollers singer, claimed that Paton pushed them to sleep with radio DJ Chris Denning, who jailed for child sex abuse in 2016. 

Left to right: Eric Faulkner, Les McKeown, Alan Longmuir, Stuart ‘Woody’ Wood and Derek Longmuir

However years on, Stuart insisted he has never spoken about the abuse he suffered with either of his bandmates, Les or Alan, even when they reunited 10 years ago. 

Paton was musically proficient from an early age, playing the accordion and piano, despite not coming from a musical family – his father was a potato merchant.

He came across the Bay City Rollers, then known as the Saxons, when he was resident bandleader at the Edinburgh Palais.

Using his contacts, Paton got the band gigs around the city and eventually became their manager as their reputation grew.

The band were signed by Bell Records after the new manager had invited the company’s boss Dick Leahy to see them perform.

They enjoyed their first hit soon after, in 1971, with a remake of the Gentrys’ 1965 hit Keep On Dancing.

However, a downturn in popularity led to an overhaul in personnel and image.

McKeown was brought in as a singer, and Wood as a guitarist.

Paton masterminded the image change; the group now wore tartan, along with half-mast trousers and scarves.

He also cultivated a myth that they preferred drinking milk to alcohol to make them come across as more innocent.

As the 1970s were well underway, the band had revived themselves with a number one album and a number of hit singles.

Most notably, Bye Bye Baby topped the charts for six weeks running in 1975.

The following year, Paton also became manager of Rosetta Stone, a Northern Irish group containing ex-Rollers guitarist Ian Mitchell.

For his more long-served project, cracks were developing.

The Rollers’ guitarist, Eric Faulkner, almost died of a drug overdose at Paton’s home in April 1976.

McKeown had been traumatised by a car accident in 1975 when he killed an elderly woman.

The singer also later recalled how their manager introduced them to drugs throughout the decade, contrary to the image he had nurtured.

Speaking in 2005, McKeown said: ‘When we got a wee bit tired, he’d give us amphetamines.

‘He’d keep us awake with speed, black bombers. You end up almost showing off to each other what stupid drugs you’ve taken.’

By the end of the decade the band’s success was waning, and they disbanded in 1978.