Gillian Sorbie, previously employed at a primary school in Fife, was expelled from the profession following a series of messages sent to two 12 year old children between March and October 2023.
The former staff member, 41, communicated with the children online after using their details to add them on the social media app.. In a string of shocking messages sent to one pupil, she told the girl to “Go to f**king hell” and threatened to “hurt her”.
The exchanges, disclosed after a hearing by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), read: “Go suck a f**k”, that’s what wh*res do, so anytime you feel like it”.
The exchanges, published following a hearing by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), read: “Go suck a f**k”, that’s what wh*res do, so anytime you feel like it”.
In other messages, Sorbie told the pupil: “Go to f**king hell” and “just you wait till tomorrow you stupid fat wh*re”.
She went on to tell the same child: “F**k you, you’re gonna hurt when I see you tomorrow” before going on to ask: “Are you dead yet?”
In correspondence to another child, Storbie arranged to buy the pupil a vape.
She said: “I’m going to get yours in the shop round from me before I head down. Any particular type or flavour you want?”
Storbie instructed the child to enter her car before exchanging the devices for cash. In the revealed Snapchat message, she instructed: “What to do is, all of you give all the money to one person, then that person can jump in my car and I’ll hand over all of the vapes and they can dish them out after I’ve gone.
“Don’t want to be seen selling you vapes in public so gotta be subtle. xx”
She enquired: “How many? Got to be kept quiet though. I can’t have folk knowing I’m selling vapes to 11 year olds, lol.”
Sorbie was convicted of selling a nicotine product to a person under the age of 18 at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court in September last year.
Her conduct was laid bare during a hearing at the SSSC last week.
Evidence presented to the panel showed that Sorbie tried erasing the messages as a child’s parent attempted to record the evidence, evidently to hide her culpability.
Sorbie has been indefinitely barred from social care work by the watchdog.
The SSSC ruling reads: “You provided two former pupils of the primary school where you worked with your contact details and then repeatedly contacted them both on a social media messaging application.
“This was further aggravated by the abusive and inappropriate content of the messages. “”You offered to sell nicotine vape devices to a child.
“This is an abuse of the trust placed in you by your employer and the parents of the children you were entrusted to care for.
It added: “You attempted to delete messages as the parent of one of the children was trying to save them in an attempt to conceal your wrongdoing.
“A warning would not be appropriate as the behaviour is extremely serious and a warning would give no protection to service users or the public.
“A condition would not be appropriate because the type of behaviour at issue is not the type of behaviour which conditions would rectify.”
Sharon McKenzie, Head of HR at Fife Council, said: “As a responsible employer, we don’t discuss the individual circumstances of any current or former employees.”
