A 19-year-old pregnant British woman accused of drug-smuggling has been transferred to a mother-and-baby unit in a Georgian prison, according to her mother.
Bella May Culley, from Teesside in north-east England, was arrested at Tbilisi airport in May. It is alleged she attempted to smuggle 12kg of marijuana and 2kg of hashish into the country. She is reported to be eight months pregnant.
Her mother, Lyanne Kennedy, said Culley was previously held at Rustavi Prison No 5, where conditions were harsh: a hole in the ground for a toilet, just one hour of fresh air daily, and communal showers twice a week. Kennedy told the BBC her daughter toasted bread over a candle flame and boiled pasta in a kettle there.
Now at a different prison with a mother-and-baby unit, conditions have improved. Kennedy said Culley gets two hours of outdoor walking, access to a communal kitchen, a shower in her room, and a proper toilet. “Bella has been making eggy bread and cheese toasties, and salt and pepper chicken,” Kennedy added.
Kennedy said the family is doing everything to bring her daughter home. It has been reported that Culley claims she was tortured by gangsters in Thailand and forced to carry the drugs. Her lawyer, Malkhaz Salakaia, said that after a plea deal—for which the family paid more than £137,000—he would appeal to the Georgian president for a pardon. Sentencing is expected on Monday.
