Bella May Culley, a 19-year-old British teenager, has returned to the UK after being freed from a Georgian prison, where she was held on drug smuggling charges for nearly six months. The Billingham native, who is 35 weeks pregnant, was filmed walking through Luton Airport on Tuesday evening, arm-in-arm with her mother, Lyanne Kennedy.
Culley was arrested in May after Georgian authorities discovered 12 kilograms (26 pounds) of marijuana and 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of hashish in her hold luggage at Tbilisi International Airport. Initially pleading not guilty, she told the court she had been tortured into transporting the drugs by a gang and displayed scars on her right wrist as evidence. “I did not want to do this. I was forced to do this through torture. I just wanted to travel. I am a good person. I am a student at university. I am a clean person. I don’t do drugs,” she told the Tbilisi court.
Her lawyer, Malkhaz Salakaia, told reporters that she had been threatened with a hot iron to carry the suitcase and praised Georgian prosecutors for taking her “situation and financial condition into consideration.”
Under a revised plea agreement, approved by Tbilisi City Court Judge Giorgi Gelashvili, Culley pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five months and 25 days in prison—the time she had already served. Prosecutors had initially considered a two-year sentence but reduced it in light of her age, pregnancy, and the £137,000 her family raised to help reduce her sentence. She was also fined 500,000 lari.
During her detention, Culley spent several months in harsh conditions at Rustavi Prison Number Five, including a cell with a hole-in-the-ground toilet and limited access to showers, soap and fresh air. Shortly before her release this Monday, she was transferred to a “mother and baby” unit, where she gained access to a communal kitchen, a shower in her room, and two hours of outdoor time daily.
Culley’s case has drawn attention to Georgia’s strict approach to drug offences and the widespread use of plea bargaining. Criminal justice expert Guram Imnadze noted that nearly 90% of drug-related cases in the country are resolved this way, often resulting in reduced sentences.
Ms Kennedy said she was relieved to have her daughter back and praised the support she had received from legal teams and authorities. “Her full story will come in time. Until then, we are just a family doing everything we can for my daughter and grandson,” she said.
By Team GT
