Bella Culley, 19, who is due to give birth in December, has been transferred to a prison “mother and baby” unit in Georgia, her mum has said, after she was charged with drug smuggling
Teen “drug smuggler” Bella Culley made toast using a candle flame and endured communal showers in her Georgian prison, her has said.
The 19-year-old, who is expected to deliver her baby in December, faces formal sentencing next week following drug trafficking charges in Georgia this year. Bella, a nursing student from Billingham, Teesside, vanished in Thailand during May before subsequently appearing in Georgia.
Authorities detained her after discovering 11kg of cannabis and over 400g of hashish in her belongings. Bella’s mother, Lyanne Kennedy, disclosed that the British teenager has now been moved to a “mother and baby” prison facility.
She had previously endured five months in a cell at Georgia’s Rustavi Prison Number Five. The mum outlined the harsh circumstances Bella encountered in her former accommodation, including a ground-level hole serving as a lavatory, shared bathing facilities used just twice weekly, and just one hour of outdoor time each day, reports the Mirror.
Speaking to the BBC, Lyanne explained that the new facility offers improved living standards. She stated: “She now gets two hours out for walking, she can use the communal kitchen, has a shower in her room and a proper toilet. They all cook for each other. Bella has been making eggy bread and cheese toasties, and salt and pepper chicken.”
Bella’s situation has highlighted Georgia’s stringent legislation and penalties surrounding narcotics and drug trafficking. The Brit has accepted a plea agreement with Georgian prosecutors and has been informed she will receive a two-year prison sentence.
A court in Tbilisi heard on Tuesday how her mother, a charity worker, and her father Niel Culley, 49, an oil rig technician, successfully deposited 500,000 Georgian Lari (£138,000) with the court. The teenager had previously been warned she could face two decades in prison.
Bella’s solicitor explained that the amount of the fine paid would determine the duration of her jail term, but for a “substantial sum” she could be released. The enormous amount of money raised will not be sufficient for Bella to secure her freedom, but it has considerably shortened her potential sentence.
Bella maintained she was coerced into trafficking drugs by criminals who scarred her with an iron and displayed footage of a man being beheaded, threatening the same fate if she refused to cooperate. During 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’s solicitor, Malkhaz Salakaia, confirmed Bella admitted guilt to smuggling drugs into Georgia, having travelled from Thailand via the United Arab Emirates.
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