£700,000 tag on home of disgraced ex-Rollers boss

The sprawling, gated, five-bedroomed property at Gogar features a gym, sauna, conservatory and open-plan dining and kitchen area. However, the plunge pool where Paton was found dead from a heart attack has been filled in, allegedly amid fears it would put off potential buyers.

The convicted sex offender, who oversaw the Rollers’ rise to fame, died in April 2009, aged 70. He had amassed a fortune of nearly £2.7 million, which is now held in trust, with any profits being divided between a selection of charities: the Dogs Trust, WWF, Rachel House children’s hospice in Kinross, cancer research and the Scottish SPCA.

The house, Little Kellerstain, was built for £29,000 in 1974. It stands in more than half an acre of ground close to Edinburgh Airport.

It was once worth £1.1 million, but its value has fallen because of the state of the property market and the rundown interior.

Robin Davie, of estate agency Blair Cadell, was today quoted as saying: “We’re expecting a lot of interest. It’s not often a large property set in expansive grounds comes on the market for less than £1 million.

“It can be renovated to a high standard or there is the opportunity for someone to knock it down and build a truly amazing home.”

Trustees of Paton’s estate will decide which charities will benefit from the sale of the property.

Paton was manager and mentor to the Rollers, who burst into the charts in 1971 and went on to produce a string of number one hits throughout the 1970s. But his later life was mired in controversy.

When he died, Paton weighed 25 stone and was sharing the house with a number of men and several rottweilers and Staffordshire bull terriers.

He served three years in jail after being convicted in 1982 of sex offences against two boys aged 16 and 17. He was also convicted of drug dealing in 2004 after £26,000 of cannabis was found at his home, but he was cleared on appeal.

Paton had also been fined twice for cannabis offences but denied claims that much of his fortune came from dealing the drug. He said he got rich through shrewd investments and property deals.

The Rollers claim they are still owed a fortune in royalties from their days at the top.

In 2003, former Rollers guitarist Pat McGlynn claimed Paton had tried to rape him in an Australian hotel in 1977, but police said there was insufficient evidence to take the allegation further.

Only one of the Rollers, Nobby Clark, the band’s first singer, was among the 200 mourners who attended Paton’s funeral. While acknowledging that Paton had been a controversial figure, his nephew Phillipe Boussiere said that his family had known him as an “enigmatic, charming and above all cheerful person”.