After investigating the dark side of the Bay City Rollers, Nicky Campbell has compared the band’s manager Tam Paton with paedophile Jimmy Savile.
Nicky’s new ITV documentary looks at the pop group’s rise to fame in the 1970s as well as highlighting how Paton abused band members and took boys from care homes to his home where they were forced to have sex.
Broadcaster Nicky said: “Paton was similar to Savile in the way he groomed and abused people.
“It’s that sense of entitlement, whether it’s Savile, Paton [or] a teacher at a posh school. They can have what they want and there’s no repercussions.”
He added: “You got these lads – 17, 18 years old – who wanted to be pop stars, but to live the dream, there’s a deal with the Devil.”
Paton was sentenced in 1982 to three years in jail after admitting he abused teenage boys. He died in 2009 aged 70. TV star Savile died in 2011.
Nicky, who revealed last year he was abused at school in Edinburgh in the 70s, talks in the film to former Bay City Rollers guitarist Pat McGlynn, 65, who says he was abused by Paton.
Nicky, 62, said: “Since I’ve been campaigning on this issue, I’ve been inspired by the guys I’ve talked to. One guy... it’s the first time he confronted it for 50 years, was sobbing and I started crying. That shows how you can bottle it up, then it all comes out. I think that was true with Pat.”
- Secrets of the Bay City Rollers, 9pm on Thursday on ITV and ITVX.
*Rape and sexual abuse * If you've been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999
