Bella Culley, 19, faces life imprisonment after being caught with £200,000 worth of cannabis at Tbilisi airport
Teenage drug mule suspect Bella Culley announced she was expecting a baby boy today as she made an emotional court appeal for freedom at a hearing in Georgian capital Tbilisi.
The 19-year-old from Billingham, Teesside, whispered the baby news to her lawyer before the court, repeating claims that she had no idea £200,000 worth of cannabis was in her baggage when she arrived at Tbilisi International Airport in May.
The British youngster was supported for the first time by her mother Lyanne Kennedy, who appeared visibly moved as the sex of the unborn tot was revealed during Thursday’s proceedings. When asked outside court about becoming a grandmother, Kennedy – wearing a cream vest, white trousers and sunglasses – laughed and said: “Not grandma – Nana!”
Emotional Court Appeal
Bella, who faces 20 years in jail if convicted of smuggling the huge stash from Thailand to the former Soviet state, addressed the hearing directly, beginning with “Gamarjoba!” – hello in Georgian – before making an impassioned plea to the judge.
“I hope you can understand the story from my eyes. I never thought something like this would happen to me,” the teenager said, wearing a grey turtleneck top with her baby bump clearly visible. She concluded her brief statement with “Madloba,” Georgian for ‘thank you’.
The pregnant teen has claimed she was burned with a hot iron and shown a beheading video by a Thailand-based gang which forced her to fly to Tbilisi in May. The unidentified father of her child is understood to be a British man she spent time with at the start of her disastrous backpacking trip.
International Search to Georgian Jail
Bella sparked an international search operation when she vanished in Thailand in early May – before surfacing 4,000 miles away in police custody in Georgia. She was arrested on arrival at the airport but claimed the bag was checked in by a gang member and she never saw it before Georgian police stopped her at customs.
Her lawyer Malkhaz Salakaia told Tbilisi City Court that a plea bargain for his client to return to Britain was “quite likely,” adding the “opportunity has been mentioned several times. However, Bella’s attempt to escape a jail term has been complicated by the release of Thai CCTV footage, which authorities claim contradicts her story about trying to alert police at Bangkok airport.
Bella has an obvious health condition – she is soon to be a mother to a baby boy and I want her to experience it while free,” Mr Salakaia told the court. “It’s a pivotal moment in one’s life, especially one so young. She is only 19.”
Defence Claims Coercion
The defence lawyer argued forcefully for his client’s innocence, stating: “There was no malicious intent on Bella’s part – she was pressured and forced and there is irrefutable evidence of that. Her testimony contains even the names and last names of the individuals who forced her to transport it, she was threatened, as well as her family, including her mother who is present today.”
Mr Salakaia emphasised that Bella did not handle the baggage herself: “I want to underline that she didn’t hand in the baggage – all she knows is that there is this luggage and she will be met by certain individuals once she arrives. The bag wasn’t even locked, and it went through three countries and two continents, while Bella to this day is unaware whether Tbilisi is a country or a city.”
He concluded: “Bella didn’t commit this crime and there is no grounds to doubt her testimony. I hope you are convinced your honour and knowing your past practice. I am sure she won’t be found guilty.”
Prosecution Opposes Bail
State prosecutor Vakhtang Tsalugelashvili argued against bail, stating: “Since there are no new developments in the case, we again fall back to our previous arguments that she might attempt to escape if released on the bail and leave the country. There is also a risk of a repeated offence given the large amount of drugs involved so we think that same procedures should remain in place.
Bella’s lawyer revealed her parents – estranged mother Lyanne Kennedy and oil rig worker father Niel – were willing to stand a bail surety of £13,600. He also expressed concern about conditions at Tbilisi’s grim No5 Women’s Penitentiary, particularly given the summer heat.
“Pregnancy needs special treatment – basic hygiene,” Mr Salakaia said. “She needs water for example, which for several days was not the case in this heat.”
Prison Conditions Raise Concerns
Bella is being held at Georgia’s only women’s prison, Tbilisi Prison No5, which has previously been criticised by international watchdogs for “degrading” and “inhuman” conditions. A 2015 report from the Georgian Public Ombudsman revealed that new intake prisoners are “inspected naked and are requested to squat”, something inmates “consider degrading treatment.
The facility, a former Soviet-era institution, has been condemned by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Penal Reform International, who have urged the Georgian government to end ill-treatment in their prisons since 2006.
If convicted and imprisoned, Bella could potentially raise her child in the facility for up to three years, as Georgian law allows children to stay with their mothers until age three in special prison rooms.
Charges and Timeline
Bella was denied bail and ordered to remain in custody until the next hearing on September 2. Judge Giorgi Gelashvili’s decision prompted an emotional response from her mother, who burst into tears and called out: “I love you – I’ll come tomorrow.”
The teenager has been charged with trafficking 446g of tetraphenol cannabinol and 11.2kg of cannabis. Georgian authorities allege she was found with “34 hermetically sealed packages containing marijuana” and “20 packages of hashish” in her luggage when she arrived at Tbilisi International Airport on May 6.
The case has attracted international attention, particularly given Bella’s background as a nursing student who had recently completed a college course in Middlesbrough and was planning to pursue a career in healthcare after what was meant to be a dream holiday.
Her grandfather, William Culley, 80, has insisted: “She’s got sucked into something, somehow. She’s not an international drug trafficker.” He described his granddaughter as “intelligent”, “not daft” and “normal”, particularly not someone who would knowingly involve herself in drugs.
As Bella awaits her next court date, questions remain about how a British teenager on a backpacking trip ended up accused of serious drug trafficking thousands of miles from home, now facing the prospect of giving birth and potentially raising her child behind bars in a Georgian prison.
Follow for more updates on Britannia Daily
