A Rolex-wearing female gangster handled more than £50,000 of criminal cash to fund a luxury lifestyle in Dubai.
Adele Parsons, 36, from Coventry, used her share of the ill-gotten gains to splash out on designer clothes, expensive timepieces and a £16,000 shopping spree.
She has now been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail as a judge hit out at ‘greedy’ Parsons for becoming ‘tempted by the high life’ she saw on her numerous trips to Dubai.
Parsons handled more than £50,000-worth of a drug gang’s criminal cash and was in direct contact with its ringleader, known only as Sky, travelling frequently to the Middle Eastern city to see him.
Parsons was found guilty of two charges of possessing criminal property and two charges of transferring criminal property. Six men had already been jailed for their roles in the gang last year.
Sentencing at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday, Judge Samantha Crabb told her: ‘You present as an intelligent young women well capable of realising that which you were involving yourself in.
‘You were not in financial difficulty. You were in good employment and expecting a substantial payout from one company which you did receive.’
She added: ‘You were someone driven by greed, tempted by the high life you saw on offer during the course of your frequent visits to Dubai.’
Parsons, 36, from Coventry, used her share of the ill-gotten gains to splash out on designer clothes, expensive timepieces and a £16,000 shopping spree
Parsons was arrested after being spotted by officers meeting with Ryan Prescott (pictured) in September 2022, when he handed her a bag containing around £10,000 in cash
Judge Crabb branded her ‘arrogant’ for trying to ‘pull the wool’ over a jury’s eyes by claiming she was merely an ‘innocent dupe’.
Five men were imprisoned in relation to the substantial supply of class A drugs by the gang throughout the UK, which Parsons was not directly involved in, while a sixth was jailed for money laundering.
Parsons’ role in the conspiracy was unravelled after she was spotted by police shortly before 4pm on September 21, 2022.
Offiicers watched her park a Mercedes in Willenhall and meet gang member Ryan Prescott, who approached her and without conversation and handed over a plastic bag, which was found to contain around £10,000 in cash.
Police arrested Parsons at a shop and seized bags containing designer clothing, with receipts totalling £5,185.
She was discovered wearing a man’s Rolex watch worth £8,500 and had also been on a £16,000 shopping spree in London.
Judge Crabb told her: ‘I am sure all of that property was linked to the profits of class A drugs.’
When arrested, Parsons refused to provide the pin number to unlock her phone, but police were able to access her device after finding it on a second mobile seized when she was arrested for a second time in November 2022.
During their investigation into the drugs gang, West Midlands Police recovered £450,000 in cash
Officers also recovered a blank-firing gun that had been converted to shoot live rounds during a search of Luke Purcell’s home
The gang were implicated in the supply of cocaine and other drugs, although Parsons was not directly involved in this (Pictured: Drugs recovered by West Midlands Police officers)
It revealed the extensive Snapchat communications she had with ‘Sky’ who was ‘at the head of the organisation’.
Parsons was provided with locations and passcodes. Judge Crabb said: ‘You told the jury you were paid £500 for exchanges.
‘That’s a lot of money for simply dropping items off.
‘It is clear you were more than happy to put yourself out, travelling to various parts of the country for financial reward. There were three exchanges on one day.’
She added: ‘The message exchange between you and Sky demonstrated you continued to be a key participant in serious criminality.
‘You continued to offend for Sky for financial reward.’
The court was told that £50,000 was a ‘conservative figure’ to reflect the total amount of criminal cash she had been involved with.
Chiara Maddocks, defending, said: ‘There was an element of coercion, naivety and exploitation.
‘She was not somebody afraid of hard work. She was somebody engaged in lawful and meaningful employment.’
Ms Maddocks said the lengthy investigation and court proceedings had caused Parsons anxiety and depression which she had tried to combat by keeping fit and busy.
Jonathan Mann was jailed for 13 years and four months respectively for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and conspiracy to launder money
Brothers Luke (left) and Alexander (right) Purcell were both jailed for their roles in the gang last year
Thomas Johnson, who purchased drugs from the gang for his own supply operation, was sentenced to 16 years in prison
Ian Lewis was jailed for three years for money laundering in 2025
Judge Crabb acknowledged there were positive sides to her character, with others describing her as a ‘loyal’ friend, who was thoughtful, kind and highly regarded at work.
But she added she had ‘done nothing to help authorities’ in identifying ‘Sky’ and progressing the investigation.
In 2025 five men from Coventry, including Prescott, were jailed for nearly 60 years in total for conspiracy to supply drugs while a sixth man was jailed for three years for money laundering.
Jonathan Mann, Luke Purcell, his brother Alexander Purcell, Prescott, Ian Lewis – all from Coventry – and Thomas Johnson, 35, from Atherstone, north Warwickshire, moved large amounts of cocaine and other drugs around the country in 2022.
A court heard Mann oversaw distribution while Prescott and the Purcells were the couriers.
Johnson purchased drugs from the gang for his own supply operation while Lewis laundered the profits.
In total the gang made more than 160 trips around the UK related to their drugs operation between April and November 2022.
When officers searched Luke Purcell’s home, they discovered a blank-firing handgun which had been converted to fire live rounds.
During their investigation they seized 21kg of cocaine, 4.9kg of ketamine, 17g of MDMA and more than £450,000 in cash.
Prescott and Mann were jailed for eight years and 13 years and four months respectively for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and conspiracy to launder money.
Alexander Purcell was sentenced to nine years and seven months for the same offences, as well as having an offensive weapon.
Luke Purcell was sent to prison for 13 years and two months for conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs, conspiracy to launder money, production of cannabis and possession of of a firearm and ammunition.
Johnson was sentenced to 16 years for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, possession with intent to supply Class A and B drugs and conspiracy to launder money.
Lewis was jailed for three years for money laundering.
