Overview
- At the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry in Edinburgh, a former Ponton House resident testifying as “Murphy” said ex–Bay City Rollers manager Tam Paton was “100%” involved in an organised paedophile ring.
- Murphy described parties at Paton’s home where boys in their early teens were given drugs and alcohol, indecent films were shown, and older men took underage boys to rooms.
- He said he later became an “enforcer” after threats of violence and blackmail over compromising photos, and that Paton waited outside Ponton House in his car to pick boys up for parties.
- The witness said attendees included people he believed were judges and other professionals, recounting one encounter with a man who said he was a judge before Murphy lost consciousness.
- The inquiry is examining failures in residential care as the Ponton Trust apologises for harm at Ponton House, with Paton’s 1982 conviction and John Wilson’s 2022 conviction providing legal context.