The grandfather of a British teenage student who was arrested in Georgia for alleged drug smuggling said he believed she had been ‘taken advantage of’ by experienced criminals.
Bella May Culley, 18, has appeared in court charged with smuggling 14 kilos (30lbs) of cannabis into the former Soviet bloc state.
The teenager’s arrest was confirmed on Tuesday after her frantic family had reported her missing from a dream holiday in the Philippines.
She told the judge she was pregnant in a brief hearing earlier in the week at which she was remanded in custody.
Her grandfather, speaking from her home town in Middlesbrough, said he feared he would never see the ‘intelligent’ nursing student again.
William Culley, 80, told the Mail: ‘I’m terrified that she’s in for a long sentence. I might never see her again – I’m 80 years old.
‘She’s got sucked into something, somehow. She’s not an international drug trafficker.
‘Can she even tell them who’s given her the drugs to take over? I bet she doesn’t.
‘These people keep out of the way. It’s all just very strange and at the moment we just don’t have any answers.
‘We don’t know what to think. She was just going on holiday and then we never heard from her… she was drinking and dancing like normal teenagers do. Someone has taken advantage of her.’
Bella May’s father, Neil, has flown from his home in Vietnam to Georgia to meet Bella in prison.
The teenager had been posting on social media from islands in the Philippines where she had been travelling.
Her family raised the alarm after she ceased contact last week, before they discovered she had ended up in jail in Georgia.
Previously, she had posted pictures of herself diving and partying on the tropical islands of Palawan and Panay.
The teenager also went on TikTok and Instagram to a picture of herself with a pile of £10 and £20 notes held together by a hairband.
She also made references to notorious criminals Bonnie and Clyde.
She had recently completed a college course in Middlesbrough and was planning to become a nurse.
Her grandfather added: ‘She’s not daft, she’s an intelligent girl. Why has she done it?
Has someone dangled money in front of her? We just don’t know what has gone on until we get out there and talk to her.
Inside ‘degrading’ Prison No 5 where Bella May Culley could spend the rest of her life
Bella was arrested in Georgia earlier this week, and she told a court in Tbilisi that she is pregnant and will now undergo a medical examination.
Culley is currently being held but could face the prospect of calling Tbilisi Prison No.5 her new home.
It is the country’s only female prison, a harsh unit in a state of decay, where prisoners have complained about ‘degrading’ treatment.
Pictures from inside the prison show tiny single bunk beds packed into rooms with a beige interior.
Other pictures show long tables in an artificially lit dining room where prisoners sit down to eat.
The Georgian Public Ombudsman revealed in a 2015 report that when new prisoners enter the prison they are ‘inspected naked and are requested to squat’, something inmates ‘consider degrading treatment’.
The report said: ‘It should be mentioned that such inspections take place every time an accused/convicted person enters or leaves the penitentiary facility.
‘According to inmates, this procedure is especially humiliating and intensive during an inmate’s menstrual cycle.
‘In some cases, because of the nature of such procedures, inmates refuse services offered outside of the facility or choose to miss court hearings.’
The report then added that the prison should adopt non-invasive searches such as scanning to avoid psychological or physical consequences.
According to the report, running water is cold, unsuitable for drinking and in bathrooms there are single floor drains which cause dirty water to pool on the floor.
Prisoners stand on concrete when showering, that are separated by rusting metal walls and opposite one another so lack privacy.
It mentions that cells for prisoners with life sentences are damp and prisoners ask to be housed in normal conditions.
It also highlighted problems with transportation to and from the prison for women and mothers and said: ‘The vehicle is described as cold, smelling, unpleasant and with water leaking from the roof.
During transit, inmates have to maintain their balance on long benches while holding their children. After such trips they described feeling pain in the small of their backs and in their muscles.
‘According to standard rules for the treatment of prisoners, transportation of prisoners in conditions of insufficient ventilation, or light, or in other poor conditions is prohibited.’
Another report by the Human Rights Watch in 2006 found the prison to be ‘severely overcrowded’ while the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (CPT) called conditions ‘degrading’ and ‘inhuman and constitute ‘an affront to a civilised society’ that same year.
We are just hoping that somebody can do something. She must be terrified.’
The teenager was arrested at Tbilisi airport. In court she did not enter a plea at the preliminary hearing.
Her lawyer said at this stage the ‘terrified and confused’ teenager would invoke her right to silence over the charges and would continue to push for bail.
She is being held at the city’s only all-female jail, Prison No 5. The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs has warned that the crime carries a sentence of up to 20 years or life imprisonment.
The lawyer 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.’
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