The Scotsman
September 18, 1998, Friday

Former Bay City Roller on underage gay sex charges


By Jim Wilson

A former member of the Bay City Rollers appeared in court yesterday accused of homosexual offences involving an underage youth.

Derek Longmuir, who played drums with the successful Scottish band before pursuing a nursing career, faced three indecency charges involving a youth under 18, the homosexual age of consent.

Longmuir, 47, made no plea or declaration when he appeared in private at Edinburgh Sheriff Court and was released on bail after the hearing before Sheriff John Horsburgh, QC.

He was one of the original members of the Bay City Rollers, along with his older brother, Alan, the band's bass guitarist. They enjoyed international success in the 1970s and were famous for their tartan outfits and screaming fans.

The case was continued for further inquiry yesterday after Longmuir, of Queens Park Court, Edinburgh, appeared on petition and was accused of three charges of alleged indecent conduct under Section 13 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995.

The charges relate to offences allegedly committed since December 1997.

In recent years, Longmuir, who qualified as a nurse five years ago and now works at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, had refused to take part in a reunion of the Rollers featuring his brother, who has suffered a number of heart attacks, and two other former members, Eric Faulkner and Stuart "Woody" Wood.

The singer Les McKeown, who has not spoken to his former colleagues since the band split in acrimony in 1978, also declined to join the new line-up after failing to claim the BCR name for his own group.

Sell-out tours and a series of hit singles including Bye Bye Baby, Shang-a -Lang, and Summer Love Sensation fuelled Rollermania in Britain, the United States and Japan during the 1970s.

Six of the band's former members are now mired in a long-running legal wrangle with Arista Records over profits held by the company.