Pregnant teen Bella May Culley reveals what she ‘cannot wait’ for as she arrives residence

Bella May Culley, 19, who is due to give birth next month, was released from prison on Monday after a brief court hearing and was expected to be given a custodial sentence

Drug mule Bella May Culley arrived back home in Billingham shortly after midnight in the early hours of Wednesday (November 5).

The pregnant teenager did not say much but did tell waiting reporters what she is most looking forward to.

She jetted back to Britain from Tbilisi’s International Airport in Georgia following her ‘shock’ release from prison.

The 19-year-old, who is due to deliver next month, was released from jail on Monday (November 3) after a swift court appearance. She had been expected to face imprisonment after admitting to trafficking narcotics into Georgia earlier this year.

However, she was instead set free when prosecutors decided to alter a previous plea deal that would have seen her jailed for two years. Following her arrival at London’s Luton Airport on Tuesday (November 4) evening, Bella and relatives embarked on the lengthy trip back to Billingham.

They reached home in Billingham just after midnight and were welcomed by delighted family members. She remarked: “I can’t wait to get into my own bed.”

Bella and her mother Lyanne Kennedy, 44, were observed checking in at Tbilisi’s International airport at approximately 12.30pm UK time. An onlooker said the duo were seen hurrying into the terminal together before registering for their flight at an EasyJet counter, reports Teesside Live.

They continued: “They were the last people to check in for their flight. If they had been even minutes later they would have been too late to check in.”

Bella disappeared in Pattaya, Thailand, in May, only to resurface in Georgia, a former USSR state. She was apprehended after authorities discovered 11kg of cannabis and over 400g of hashish, a highly concentrated form of cannabis, in her luggage.

Bella alleges that she was coerced into smuggling the drugs by gangsters who branded her with an iron, showed her a video of a man being beheaded, and threatened to decapitate her family if she didn’t comply. At a previous hearing in July, she stated: “I didn’t want to do this. I was forced by torture… All I wanted to do was to travel.”

The teenager was facing a potentially lengthy jail term but, after spending months in Georgia’s Rustavi Prison Number Five, she was released on Monday. Bella broke down in tears and embraced her charity worker mum, expressing her gratitude to the court upon her release from the dock.

She also voiced a “thank you” to the court.

Speaking to the Mirror, the teenager confessed that her release came as a “huge surprise”, admitting: “No, not at all” when asked if she had expected it.

She then exited the court hand in hand with her mum, tearfully speaking to her dad Niel, 49, over the phone. She joyfully told him: “I’m not in jail anymore!”.

His response was filled with joy as he exclaimed: “That is brilliant… brilliant!”. She added: “There’s so many cameras! I love you dad!”.

Her mum Lyanne, clearly overwhelmed with emotion outside the courtroom, said: “I am so happy, so happy. I know I don’t look like it, but so happy. We’ll need to get her passport and then we leave, either today or tomorrow.”

Prosecutor Vakhtang Tsalugelashvili revealed this week: “It was our initiative – we took into consideration her age, her condition and her good behaviour, and that she fully cooperated.”

A court insider disclosed that the Georgian authorities chose to show leniency to the teenager because of her approaching motherhood.

Bella’s lawyer Malkhaz Salakaia said that the ruling would allow her to become a mother in “calmer, more stable conditions”. Bella had already been held in custody for nearly six months on remand after her arrest at the Georgian capital’s international airport on May 10.

Mr Salakaia revealed that the reprieve was finalised just moments before the court hearing, which commenced shortly after 10am UK-time. An onlooker reported that Bella broke into laughter before letting out jubilant screams when told she would be freed.

Her family, including her mother Lyanne and her father Niel Culley, an oil rig worker, had previously agreed to pay a penalty of 500,000 Georgian Lari (£138,000) as part of a plea agreement with Georgian prosecutors. Bella’s lawyer had earlier suggested that the amount of the penalty paid would dictate the length of her sentence – with the prospect of imprisonment being cancelled, depending on how much money was handed over.

The court initially demanded 800,000 Georgian Lari (£220,000) for her release, it has been revealed. Despite the plea agreement’s emergence, which was expected to result in Bella giving birth while imprisoned, The Mirror disclosed last week how Mr Salakaia remained hopeful of securing her release from prison before she gave birth by seeking a pardon from Georgia’s prime minister Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former professional footballer who played for Man City.

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