Two former members of the Bay City Rollers are accused of "conspiracy to supply" cocaine, after a meeting in the car park of an Essex hotel last May. Former Bay City Rollers guitarist Patrick McGlynn is accused of going to the Essex hotel with the intention of buying £16,000 of the drug, while the band's former frontman Les McKeown is accused of setting up the sale.
Prosecutors told Basildon Crown Court this week that when they searched McGlynn's car at the hotel they found a line of cocaine on a CD, and £16,000 in cash. In the car of another driver, one Jason Abbott, police found £16,000 worth of the drug. Prosecutors say the line of cocaine in McGlynn's car was a 'free sample' intended to be consumed before the purchase of the rest of the drugs. But McGlynn claims that he had, in fact, intended to buy a car off Abbott, and that the line of coke was for his personal use "to cheer him up".
McKeown, in trouble with authorities last year after causing and then fleeing a traffic accident while driving over the alcohol limit, is implicated in this new case because text messages suggest he set up the meeting.
McGlynn and McKeown deny all charges - the case continues.