Elle Taylor, 28, has been jailed for three years after admitting to charges relating to proceeds of crime, cocaine supply, and wilfully exposing a child to unnecessary suffering. The drug-dealing operation, based in Fife, involved a teenage boy acting as a courier for up to 20 deals a day and earned over £213,000.
Teen courier recruited at holiday park
Taylor met the 14-year-old boy while on holiday at Seton Sands holiday park last year and kept in touch via Facebook. She asked him to supply cocaine on her behalf, and he agreed because she allowed him to live at her address. In return, she provided food and transferred small amounts of cash into his account for food, but gave him no other payment for the drug supply.
Between June 8 and August 29, 2025, debits totalling £1,290 were made to accounts held by the boy. Taylor received text messages and social media posts from buyers, then sent the teenager out to make the deals. She or an associate sometimes made deliveries herself. Prosecutor Hilland said: “He did not receive any profit from the sale of the cocaine, as all sums were transferred to the accused.”
Police raid uncovered street deals
Police raided Taylor’s Ballingry address on August 21 last year and found 33 recognised street deals of cocaine, including 28 bags in an envelope with her name on it, worth £1,320 in total. They also recovered £380 in cash, scales, and Snapchat messages indicating cocaine supply.
Financial investigations revealed Taylor received £213,163.07 in third-party bank transfers and sent £147,828.47 between accounts and cash withdrawals between September 2019 and September 2025. The amount in her three Bank of Scotland accounts could not have come from a legitimate income source.
Child ingested cocaine
The court heard that a young girl in Taylor’s care consumed cocaine at an address in Fife on August 5 and 6 last year. The child was rushed to A&E at Victoria Hospital showing symptoms including drowsiness and vomiting. Taylor told a doctor she had left the property for 30 minutes to go to a shop, claiming the girl was with a friend who was intoxicated after taking multiple street valium.
The child told a doctor she found a tablet on the floor and swallowed it. Medics observed her as pale, lethargic, and with dilated pupils, though responsive. She vomited and had profuse diarrhoea, was admitted to the children’s ward overnight, and returned to normal with no treatment required. A urine sample showed unquantified amounts of cocaine and its primary metabolite benzoylecgonine, plus unquantified amounts of painkiller Tramadol and antidepressant venlafaxine.
At the sentencing hearing, Sheriff John MacRitchie described the crimes as “absolutely horrific.” He told Taylor: “Be under no illusions, this overall sentence is at the very lowest end of what could conceivably be a fair and proportionate disposal.” The sheriff noted her lack of previous convictions as “very significant” and moderated the sentence to reflect her circumstances, including the effect on children, domestic abuse she described, her relative youth at the time, adverse childhood experiences, and her guilty plea.
