The family of a pregnant British teenager held on drug smuggling charges in Georgia have paid £138,000 in a plea bargain deal that could result in a two-year jail sentence. Bella Culley, a 19-year-old student nurse from Billingham, Teesside, may give birth while imprisoned in the former Soviet republic.
Culley was arrested at Tbilisi airport in May after being stopped with an alleged 14kg of cannabis worth £200,000 in a travel bag. She had been travelling in south-east Asia and was reported missing in Pattaya, Thailand. She initially pleaded not guilty, claiming she had been tortured into carrying the drugs to a country she had never heard of.
At a court hearing on Tuesday, Culley pleaded guilty under a plea bargain agreement. The family managed to raise 500,000 lari (£137,870) after initially trying to raise £225,000 to secure her immediate release. Under the deal, she faces a two-year sentence instead of a possible 20 years or life imprisonment.
Culley, who is due to give birth before Christmas, smiled and waved at her family during the hearing. Her mother, Lyanne Kennedy, told reporters: “She’s looking big, pregnant, but she looks strong.” Culley asked the judge: “Will I be able to take the baby with me if I go back to jail?” The judge replied: “Nobody is going to take the baby away from you.”
Prosecutor Vakhtang Tsalugelashvili confirmed the plea bargain, stating: “Our conditions have been met – two years of imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 Georgian lari.” Culley’s lawyer, Malkhaz Salakaia, requested a final hearing to pass the verdict. An application for bail was refused on medical grounds, as a doctor deemed her conditions satisfactory.
