A FORMER Glasgow rent boy who was assaulted and had his house set on fire after appearing in a discredited TV documentary is seeking compensation from the Independent Television Commission.

The case, the first of its kind, has been raised by solicitors Ross Harper on behalf of 20-year-old Scott McMillan, whose ''life has become hell'' after the Channel 4 documentary.

McMillan was paid #40 per film session to appear in Too Much Too Young: Chickens. Channel 4 was later fined #150,000 after screening the documentary on Glasgow rent boys with scenes it later found were faked.

Mr Cameron Fyfe, of Ross Harper, says in a letter to the ITC: ''The filming took place in May and June, 1996, and was screened in September, 1997. During the filming, it struck our client as odd that the producer had asked the cameraman to film Peter McGrath, one of the researchers for Channel 4, and one of Mr McGrath's friends while they were pretending to be clients of Scott McMillan.

''As you will be aware, there was a considerable burst of publicity about this documentary when it was disclosed that the so-called clients of the rent boys were indeed fakes.''

Mr Fyfe said that as a result of the publicity, which was a direct result of the documentary's dishonesty, McMillan had suffered considerable stress and trauma.

Mr Fyfe adds in his letter: ''He has suffered abuse from people inside and outside the gay community in Glasgow. In particular, his windows were smashed. On February 9 he was chased along Hope Street in Glasgow by a crowd of men.

''Shortly before that he was mugged at St George's Cross and a knife put to his throat in George Square. On the night of February 19 he was chased along Hope Street but managed to escape by hailing a taxi.

''When he returned home, he saw a gang of teenagers near to his door. He managed to run up his stairs and into his house before they could catch up with him. However, they then started throwing stones at his window and attempted to set fire to his house.''

Mr Fyfe says that the fire brigade managed to extinguish the fire, but not before it had caused considerable damage.

He adds: ''On top of all this, he has suffered a stream of verbal abuse. He is now so stressed out that he has had to apply for sickness benefit.''

In his precognition, McMillan says that he is also ''too scared to leave home''.

Mr Fyfe said that he should make it clear to the ITC that McMillan was no longer a rent boy.

''He has asked us to make a complaint against Channel 4 for faking this documentary. We appreciate that the ITC has the authority to fine a company in relation to a complaint but you have not in the past been asked to make an order for compensation to an individual.

''If making such an order is at all possible, perhaps it could be considered in this particular case.''