A British student who was arrested in Georgia for allegedly smuggling 14 kilos (30lbs) of cannabis into the former Soviet state has told a court she is pregnant.
‘Terrified’ Bella May Culley, 18, faces being caged in an overcrowded ex-Soviet jail after being arrested on drug smuggling charges.
The teenager took to the stand to announce that she was pregnant in a hearing yesterday at Tbilisi city court, before adding she would reserve the right to remain silent.
She will now undergo a medical examination where doctors will assess the veracity of her claims.
The teenager appeared to have been living a life of luxury, scuba diving and partying on the tropical islands of Palawan and Panay in the Philippines, where she explored coastal caves and played with turtles.
In posts on TikTok and Instagram, Culley also flaunted huge stacks of cash, showing off a pile of £10 and £20 notes held together by a hairband.
However, her online posts stopped abruptly last week, sparking fears from her family that she may have vanished while on a trip to Thailand.
Unbeknownst to them, Culley had been detained more than 3,000 miles away in Georgia after allegedly being caught carrying 30 pounds (14kg) of cannabis at Tbilisi International Airport.
Her lawyer confirmed to MailOnline that her father Niel Culley is now en route to Tbilisi, while a former Georgian police officer warned of the lengthy jail sentences the British teen could face.
The nursing student, who has been preliminarily detained for two months as investigations continue, is currently ‘terrified and confused’, according to the lawyer.
It appears she was detained in a planned sting operation by the Black Sea nation’s elite Special Tasks Department, a unit within Georgia’s Central Criminal Police that deals only with the most high-profile cartel and organised crime cases.
Former police general Jemal Janashia, one of the country’s foremost drug crime experts, told the Mail: ‘The fact that she was detained by CrimPol’s Special Tasks Department suggests this wasn’t a random search, but a planned operation.
‘And the quantity of drugs found on her makes it hard to remain optimistic.
‘It’s a grim situation – people have been sentenced to eight years or more for possessing twenty times less in the past decade.’
Her family believed she was on holiday in Thailand and it is not known how she travelled to Georgia
Culley seen arriving in a court in Tbilisi wearing handcuffs as she was brought in for a short hearing
Bella May Culley, 18, compared herself to Bonnie and Clyde before she was arrested in Georgia
The teenager shared a video of herself smoking cannabis while travelling around Thailand
She told the court she chose to remain silent about the charges brought against her
Janashia went on: ‘Drug offences are one of the key priorities for the Georgian police. Theoretically, given the amount discovered, she could face life imprisonment. In practice, however, that sentence is usually reserved for murderers and high-level organised crime figures.
‘Still, a sentence of 15 to 20 years is a very real possibility.’
In recent social media posts, Culley – a nursing student – shared what appeared to be clips of herself ‘smoking cannabis’ while riding in the back of a car.
She also often made references to notorious American outlaws Bonnie and Clyde.
‘Blonde or brunette? Erm how about we get up to criminal activities side by side like Bonnie n Clyde making heavy figures and f***ing on balconies over the world,’ she bragged in one video on April 1.
In a caption she added: ‘I don’t care if we on the runnnnn baby long as i’m next to uuu.’
Culley’s last posts on Instagram and Tiktok came on May 9. She was reported missing after family members did not hear from her from May 10.
The 18-year-old was reportedly charged with illegally purchasing and storing a particularly large amount of narcotics, illegally purchasing and storing the narcotic drug marijuana, and illegally importing it into Georgia.
During an inspection, ’34 hermetically sealed packages containing marijuana were found in the passenger’s bag, as well as 20 packages of hashish,’ local media has claimed.
In another social media post, she flaunted huge piles of cash tied up in hairbands
Bella May Culley, 18, from Billingham, County Durham, seen in court in Tbilisi after she was detained at at the city’s airport
Culley appeared in court in Georgia today over alleged drug smuggling charges
Appearing in a court in Tbilisi, Culley did not answer the judge’s questions regarding drugs allegations.
She told the court she chose to remain silent about the charges brought against her, Rustavi TV channel reported.
The judge remanded her in custody.
The report said Culley was arrested at Tbilisi Airport after a suspicious subject was found in her bag. The suspected drugs seized are the main evidence in the case.
Culley’s Georgian lawyer sought her release on bail.
They told reporters: ‘My client is currently exercising the right to remain silent, so we will provide detailed information later, once they decide how to proceed.
‘A formal request must be submitted to the relevant authority, and then more detailed information regarding my client can be provided.
‘At this stage, [she is] invoking [her] right to silence, and further developments will be shared later once a decision is made.’
Culley did not answer questions from the judge and was remanded in custody
Footage of Culley being marched up the stairs to Central Criminal Police Department in Tbilisi
She could face 20 years jail or even life imprisonment, the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs has said
Culley posed in a bikini in another video while she was on her holiday in Thailand
Bella May Culley pictured smoking cannabis in a video posted to her social media
Culley’s alleged offences have been covered by local news outlets in ex-Soviet nation, Georgia
Culley had recently finished a course at Middlesbrough College with the aim of becoming a nurse and was due to speak to her mother Leannae Kennedy on Saturday.
Her father Niel flew out to Thailand with his sister Kerrie Culley to try to get answers after they did not hear from her.
It then emerged she had been arrested in Tbilisi, nearly 4,000 miles away from her last known location near Bangkok.
Niel is now heading to Tbilisi.
His daughter now faces time in Tbilisi Prison No.5, Georgia’s only female prison.
A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report into the lock up previously criticised the ‘severely overcrowded’ facility after they alongside Amnesty International and Penal Reform International urged the Georgian government to end ill-treatment in their prisons in 2006.
The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (CPT) described the conditions at No 5 as ‘degrading’, ‘inhuman’ and as such ‘an affront to a civilised society’ that same year.
Bella May Culley could face up to as much as 20 years of life behind bars in the prison previously described as ‘inhumane’ and an ‘affront to civilised society’ by the Human Rights Watch
Pictured: The exterior of Tbilisi Prison No.5, which is Georgia’s only female prison
All the cells in the Georgian prison were said to have smelled ‘strongly of human sweat, human excrement, and cigarette smoke,’ according to the 2006 report
The alleged suitcase of British citizen Bella May Culley, 18
The teenager had shared her holiday pictures on Instagram regularly and had stayed in touch with her family
On Saturday, May 10, she had stopped posting updates and her family had not heard from her
A massive international search operation was launched this week after she was reported missing
A HRW report also detailed the facility as being in a ‘state of disrepair’ at the time, with ‘crumbling’ walls and floors with some inmates having to sit on ‘two tier metal bunk beds’ when they were not sleeping.
The bathroom were described as ‘decaying and flithy’, while all the cells were said to have smelled ‘strongly of human sweat, human excrement, and cigarette smoke,’ with garbage also found scattered near cell doors.
Before police confirmed Culley’s arrest, her mother Lyanne told Teesside Live: ‘She flew out to the Philippines after Easter with a friend and she was there for three weeks.
‘She was posting loads of pictures and then she went to Thailand on about May 3.
‘The last message she sent was to me and that was on Saturday at 5.30pm saying she was going to Facetime me later.
‘That was the last message anyone has received from what we can figure out up to now.
‘I’m just waiting on her dad who is now in Bangkok to get back with any more information. I just want her home and safe or to hear her gorgeous little voice.’
The 18-year-old was reportedly charged with illegally purchasing and storing a particularly large amount of narcotics, illegally purchasing and storing the narcotic drug marijuana, and illegally importing it into Georgia
She is accused of bringing ‘a particularly large amount of narcotic drugs to Georgia’
Now she faces 20 years to life behind bars in a Georgian prison as she stands accused of smuggling 14kg cannabis into the country
She remains in custody in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, charged with drug offences
Her distraught mother had also told the Sun that she had a bad feeling about the 18-year-old’s trip to Thailand.
‘I really didn’t want her to go to Thailand. I begged her to come home. I don’t trust some of the boys over there,’ she said.
‘But she wanted to meet up with some friends she made over there on a previous trip. I don’t know who any of them are.’
When Culley’s father Niel was told by officers at the Bangkok police station to contact the country’s immigration bureau to figure out where she was last staying.
The family previously contacted an airline, who revealed that Culley had made a request for a ticket but the payment never went through.
Lyanne said: ‘When she stopped answering messages I assumed it was because she was flying back to surprise me. But then nothing.’
The distraught mother added: ‘We think she was last near Pattaya, and was supposed to fly back from Bangkok via Frankfurt according to the itinerary.’
‘But I never heard anything about picking her up.’
In her last social media posts before her arrest, she shared a post on Facebook which wrote: ‘Ppl hate when you begin to better yourself. Because they liked you better struggling.’
