Teen ‘drug smuggler starving' in prison hell
Pregnant drugs charge teenager Bella Culley has spoken for the first time of her ordeal in a cold jail cell in Georgia - and her cravings for tuna fish.
British backpacker Bella, 18, is in custody following her arrest in Georgia's Tbilisi airport with a suitcase of cannabis after going missing 6500km away in Thailand.
She will spend at least nine months on remand in a grim Soviet-era jail alongside hardened criminals and faces a sentence from 15 years to life if convicted of importing a huge stash.
But no word of how the teenager was coping after six days behind bars in capital Tbilisi's grim No5 Women's Penitentiary had emerged - until today.
Bella, from Billingham, County Durham was allowed to speak to glamorous Georgian lawyer Mariam Kublashvili for 30 minutes on Monday.
Celebrity lawyer Ms Kublashvili has appeared on Georgia's version of Strictly Come Dancing and represented British 'speedboat killer' Jack Shepherd when he fled to the country.
And she told The Sun that the shy and scared young Briton was a victim rather than a calculating criminal who deserves to be caged for years.
Ms Kublashvili, 39, said 'sad but calm' Bella appeared visibly cold in a thin green top and green leggings with her hair untied when they met in a draughty meeting room.
She constantly thanked the prison advocate during their talk and appeared timid and reserved as she quietly set out her concerns.
Ms Kublashvili told The Sun: 'My Initial impression was very positive - she is very open, very pleasant, and charming. She doesn't fit the profile of a drug trafficker at all.
'For anyone, like me, with experience in dealing with such cases, it would be quite obvious that she is a victim here - she's been used and manipulated.
'I have a 20-year-old child myself and can only imagine what her parents must be feeling.'
Ms Kublashvili went on to tell how Bella spoke of her pregnancy - and complained she is being denied proper medical examination.
The teenager's family are distraught after she flew to the Far East on holiday to meet a mystery man called 'Ross or Russ' who introduced her to Brits suspected of running drug mules.
And their concerns were compounded when she announced she was having a baby when she appeared in court to face charges of importing 31lb of cannabis and hashish last Wednesday.
Ms Kublashvili said: 'She is pregnant and needs medical care which she complained she wasn't getting.
'She asked me for tuna fish which I thought was odd and might have been something to do with pregnancy cravings - but I found out later fish cannot be sent in.
'She told me no tests, checks or medical examinations have been done.
'She said she asked for a doctor, but the doctor wasn't speaking English and they couldn't understand each other.'
Bella's Vietnam-based oil rig electrician dad Niel, 49, and her aunt Kerrie Culley flew to Georgia to support her but have so far been blocked from visiting by jail red tape.
The father told The Sun he will stay 'as long as it takes' to help end her ordeal and is currently dealing with a local legal aid lawyer.
Niel is estranged from Bella's UK-based mum Lyanne Kennedy who has struggled to find enough cash to fly to Georgia.
Ms Kublashvili said: 'She expects her dad to visit either Tuesday or sometime later.
'She asked me if a jumper and warmer clothes - size medium - could be sent to her.
'I'm obviously happy to do that. She wants fruit as well and doesn't like what she is fed in the prison at all. I will be sending fruit over too.
'She is sad and would very much like to go home.'
Bella is sharing a cell at the prison with two other women inmates, but it was unclear what crimes they have been accused of or committed, Ms Kublashvili said.
The lawyer added: 'She is getting along well with her inmates – two of them, Anastasya and Ani.
'She asked me to get in touch with her dad – she said she knew he was getting lawyers and that carried significant financial costs.
'But I have a great deal of experience helping women in situations like this and want to do all I can for her so I'm offering my services free of charge.'
Ms Kublashvili emerged with a food shopping list from the teenager for chicken fillets, beef or veal, bread, apples, pears and pomegranates.
Bella was detained in Georgia following a tip-off on May 11 after a 20-hour flight from Bangkok via Sharjah in the UAE with the drug stash in her hold bag.
She had spent weeks away having holiday fun in the Philippines and Thailand where she met a group of young men from the north west of England.
She joked online of 'Bonnie and Clyde' hijinks and was pictured smoking a suspicious-looking cigarette and showing off wads of cash.
Her dad Niel is liaising with the British Embassy in Tbilisi and is understood to be seeking a new lawyer after being denied access to her for nearly a week.
Ms Kublashvili is the former Soviet state's best-known celebrity lawyer.
In 2019, the tough advocate was previously employed by British 'speedboat killer' Jack Shepherd who fled to Georgia.
He was convicted in his absence of the manslaughter of Tinder date Charlotte Brown, 24, who fell out of his speedboat as he showed off on the Thames.
Web designer Shepherd from Devon was sentenced to six years in 2018 for Charlotte's manslaughter after being initially treated as a witness after the crash.
He bolted to Georgia following his conviction when he was eventually convicted after a jury heard the boat was speeding at more than twice the limit when it capsized.
The case sparked outrage when The Sun revealed he won taxpayer-funded legal aid to appeal his conviction while on the run.
He eventually turned himself in to the Georgian authorities, but still maintained his innocence, claiming that Charlotte was driving at the time the speedboat crashed.
Shepherd, now 36, was extradited to the UK in 2019 and served the rest of his sentence in a British jail before his release last year.
He remains on probation and is the subject of a travel ban.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
6 hours ago
- News.com.au
Mum's video of man under her car divides the internet
A mother has revealed how her 14-year-old son's chance interaction with a man in a large black truck left him feeling uncomfortable — and set off alarm bells for her. The Texan woman shared a clip of a man 'hiding' under a black truck at a local park. Footage showed the man on his stomach underneath his vehicle. 'PSA to my ladies: watch out for creeps at the park,' she wrote over the top of the clip, adding the man was watching her from underneath the car. 'See him moving on his belly?' The video clocked up to 12 million views, and garnered a lot of comments that were divided on what was actually happening. Some argued the man could have simply been fixing his car, while others said that was unlikely, given he was on his stomach. A few questioned why the woman didn't call the police. 'Tell me why I thought I was looking for Pennywise in the sewer,' one said, referencing Pennywise the Dancing Clown in Stephen King's horror novel, It. One commented: 'Ngl I was terrified just hearing 'there's a man'.' 'He's def looking at something under his truck,' another defended. One said; ï¸� 'Hello, call the cops?' 'Start yelling, 'Hey whose car is this, there is a man hiding under the car',' one social media user suggested. 'It's a Dodge … he's probably fixing something,' another said. One commented: 'Man just looking at something on his truck being accused by women.' 'Oh my god — when I was a teenager my friend's dad said watch out getting in your car because kidnappers will cut your Achilles tendon and I never believed it,' another shared. One person commented: 'I would totally make a scene. He might be planting an AirTag so he can find somebody later.' 'Men in the comments being like 'maybe he's working on his car' (despite being on his stomach) and 'it's not illegal' are INSANE. like what!!! if someone's up under a car, on their stomach, watching people – that is not okay. men wonder why there's a loneliness epidemic like damn maybe it's deserved,' one added. In a follow-up video, the woman gave more context about what had unfolded. She said her son had run to her car to get her water bottle for her, when a man sitting in the next car along 'clocked' him. 'My son said he immediately started feeling uncomfortable, got a weird feeling, so I look over. As I am looking over the man is getting out of his car and crawling underneath it,' she said on TikTok. 'He just watches me the entire time.' She said she told everyone around her what was happening — but didn't call the police as technically the man hadn't done anything wrong and police in her county are slow to respond at the best of times. So, she called someone else she knew who could help in the situation. When they confronted the man, he allegedly didn't have 'a whole lot to say'. The woman said she shared the video to social media — and her local neighbourhood app — to spread awareness.
News.com.au
8 hours ago
- News.com.au
Teen dies in e-scooter crash at Mareeba, far north Queensland
A young man has died after falling from an electric scooter in regional Queensland. The crash tragic accident happened in the town of Mareeba, near Cairns, on Tuesday night. A police spokeswoman told NewsWire, as of late Wednesday morning, the deceased male was yet to be identified. Local media reports it is a teenager who has died. The spokeswoman said the police believe there were no other vehicles involved in the crash. The forensic crash unit is investigating. The tragic incident is the latest electric scooter crash to rock the country and follows the release of a report last week from doctors and researchers in Queensland highlighting the 'significant risk' to children from e-scooters. The report, published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, analysed 176 child e-scooter injury cases that presented to Sunshine Coast University Hospital between January 2023 and December 2024. The research found 71 per cent of cases were male, falls accounted for 78 per cent of crashes, while 13 per cent involved motor vehicles. Helmet noncompliance was documented in 42 per cent of the presentations, 12 per cent involved doubling, and 36 per cent exceeded the 25km/h speed limit. Further, fractures occurred in 37 per cent of cases, 18 per cent required computerised tomography scans and 11 per cent sustained life-threatening or potentially life-threatening injuries.
News.com.au
11 hours ago
- News.com.au
Queensland Police shoot teenage girl outside Townsville pub
Police officers have shot a teen girl after she allegedly wielding a knife and made threats, with the incident now under investigation. Police have shot a teen girl after she allegedly wielded a knife and made threats outside a Townsville pub. Officers were called to a hotel on Ingham Road in Townsville, about 1360km north of Brisbane, just before 5.30pm on Tuesday, responding to reports a 17-year-old girl was armed with a knife and making threats. The police allege that the girl charged at officers, who shot her in the abdomen. In a statement, the police said first aid was immediately provided by the officers before the teenager was transported to hospital for treatment. Investigations remain ongoing and a crime scene has been declared. The incident is also being investigated by the Ethical Standards Command.
