Reduced fine for ex-Rollers boss

Tam Paton was manager of the pop group Bay City Rollers

The former manager of the 1970s pop group the Bay City Rollers has had a £200,000 drugs fine reduced after other cash was confiscated.

Tam Paton, who lives near Edinburgh, was told he will now pay £20,000 when he appeared at the city's High Court.

He had already handed over £180,000 in crime profits following his conviction.

Paton's original sentence was given on 30 April, 2004, after he pleaded guilty to two charges of supplying cannabis between January and March 2003.

It was accepted that Paton, who is thought to have a fortune of about £5m, did not sell the drugs for a profit on the open market but had bought the drugs for himself and men who were staying at his Edinburgh home.

However, the £200,000 fine handed down by temporary judge Roderick Macdonald QC was quashed by appeal judges so that the Crown could try to recover Paton's proceeds of crime.

It was a moment of madness when I did what I did Tam Paton

That process was resolved in December when he agreed to hand over £180,000.

In light of that confiscation order, the same judge, now known by the title Lord Uist, handed down a £20,000 fine on Monday.

He said it was his intention for Paton to be £200,000 worse off as a result of having committed the offence.

After the brief hearing, Paton said: "I am really sorry for all the problems I have caused. It was a moment of madness when I did what I did. It has gone on for fours years now.

"I just went to get on with my life. Certainly for sure I will never do what I did before.

He added: "We have a very fair justice system in this country. I am quite pleased to live in this country."

Police tip offs

Drugs squad detectives carried out two raids at Paton's home in Little Kellerstain, Gogar, on 15 January and 27 March, 2003.

They recovered cannabis resin with a potential street value of £25,920.

During the first search they found 17 bars of the drug in an en-suite dressing room next to his bedroom, along with a tub containing another broken-up bar.

In the second raid Paton was caught holding four 9oz bars and another two were discovered in a chair where he had been sitting.

A small amount of herbal cannabis worth about £345 was also recovered. Both raids had followed tip-offs to the police.