Family of Bella Culley pay £140k in bid to free pregnant teen held for drug trafficking
The family of pregnant British teenager Bella Culley confirmed they paid $187,000 (£140,000) to a Georgian court on Tuesday to secure her release.
This follows his arrest on drug trafficking charges earlier this year.
Ms Culley, 19, from Billingham in north-east England, was arrested at Tbilisi airport when she arrived in the South Caucasus country in May.
His arrest followed a period when he was reported missing in Thailand. Georgian prosecutors allege he was found with 12 kilos of hashish and 2 kilos of hashish in his trunk.
Drug trafficking in Georgia is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Culley is being held in a women’s prison in the town of Rustavi, just outside Tbilisi.
Culley’s mother, Lyanne Kennedy, told reporters outside the Tbilisi courthouse on Tuesday that the family had paid 500,000 lari ($186,846) and was waiting for the money to be transferred to the relevant government account.
When asked about her daughter’s health, Kennedy said, “She looks big, she’s pregnant, but she looks strong.”
Culley’s lawyer, Malkhaz Salakaia, said the court will hold another hearing on the case next Monday.
Culley first pleaded not guilty at a hearing in July to possession and trafficking of illegal drugs, saying he was tortured into transporting the drugs.
He said he was a “clean person” and did not use drugs.
