Bella May Culley, 19, denies smuggling 14kg of drugs into Georgia as trial continues.
A 19-year-old woman from the North East faces the fight of her life in a Georgian court after being accused of smuggling a huge haul of drugs into the country.
Bella May Culley, from Billingham, was arrested in May at Tbilisi International Airport when authorities discovered 12kg of cannabis and 2kg of hashish in her luggage. She has denied the charges and insists she was not knowingly carrying the drugs.
Culley, who is pregnant with a baby boy, has pleaded not guilty to trafficking and possession offences. If convicted, she could spend the next two decades behind bars – or even face a life sentence. Her case has drawn international attention, with Georgian television showing her in handcuffs as she was led into custody earlier this year.
The teenager had vanished from Thailand before resurfacing in Georgia, where she was detained. She has been held in Women’s Prison No. 5 in Tbilisi for the past four months, awaiting the outcome of her trial.
Embed from Getty ImagesDuring a July hearing, Culley made an emotional plea to the court. Fighting back tears, she said: “I hope you understand my story through my eyes. I never thought something like this would happen to me.”
Her defence lawyer, Malkhaz Salakia, urged the court to show mercy, stressing her youth and her pregnancy. “Bella will become a mother soon, she is expecting a boy. I want her to feel this motherhood in freedom,” he argued. He also pointed out that her family is present in Georgia and that there is no risk of her interfering with witnesses.
The prosecution paints a very different picture. Georgian authorities say the drugs were found in a bag Culley had brought into the country. Officials are investigating whether she intended to hand the narcotics to someone else once inside Georgia.
Culley has claimed she was forced to smuggle the drugs. In court, she alleged that a criminal gang tortured her, burning her arm with a heated iron, and compelled her to transport the narcotics. She further claimed she approached a police officer for help, only to discover he was working with the gang.
“I just want to travel. I am a good person. I am a student at university. I am a clean person. I don’t do drugs,” Culley told the court in a desperate appeal.
Her solicitor described her as “not far from childhood,” challenging the notion that she should be treated as an adult under the full weight of the law. He pressed the argument that she lacked maturity and should not be judged solely as an experienced offender.
The case has also drawn warnings from others who have lived through similar ordeals. Molly Ellis, a British woman who gave birth in prison after being convicted in her twenties, cautioned against underestimating the trauma of raising a child behind bars.
While Culley’s legal team fights to secure her release, prosecutors remain firm. A spokesperson confirmed that the charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years, with life imprisonment also an option available to the court.
For now, the teenager remains incarcerated in Tbilisi’s notorious Women’s Prison No. 5, as her trial continues to unfold. The outcome could determine not only her future but the life of the child she is due to bring into the world.