Teen's dream holiday turns nightmare from 'death wish' to life in horror prison

Daily Mirror

14-05-2025

Bella May Culley's surfacing in Georgia, where authorities have accused her of hauling cannabis, is a bizarre story full of twists and turns including an ominous Facebook post and a pregnancy claim
Georgia: British teen arrested on drug trafficking charges
Bella May Culley's shock holiday disappearance and unexpected resurfacing in a nation 4,000 miles away have caused ripples of shock and confusion, with her family and members of the public anxiously watching as she faces lifetime incarceration in an infamous prison.
The 18-year-old aspiring nurse from Billingham, County Durham, was reported missing earlier this month when she lost contact with her family while on holiday in Thailand, and became the subject of a massive international search. When she resurfaced, she was 3,600 miles away in Tblisi, Georgia, having been accused of attempting to smuggle 30 pounds - 14kg - of Cannabis into the former Soviet nation.
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Pictures have captured the dramatic shift from her sun-drenched dream holiday to the steps of a Georgian courthouse being escorted in handcuffs. She could spend life behind bars at the notorious Tblisi No 5 prison should she be convicted for her alleged crimes, less than a month after she jetted off for an island-hopping holiday around southeast Asia.
Here's everything we know about the mysterious case so far.
The southeast Asia trip
Before she appeared in Georgia, Ms Culley was enjoying a holiday touring southeast Asia, with her first pictures posted on social media from the Philippines on April 28. She posted dozens of photos from the nation showing her reclining on the beach and tucking into local food while looking out onto glittering blue waters.
She hopped across islands in the nation over several days, ending up in El Nido, where she watched turtle hatchlings make their first trip into the sea, and went scuba diving in local lagoons. By May 2, nine days before she was revealed to be in the care of Georgian authorities, she was still enjoying her time abroad.
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She said in a social media post on the day: "I can't promise this will be the last holiday photo."
Her last post on Facebook before activity ceased was a glamorous selfie showing Ms Culley dressed in a floral yellow dress inside accommodation at an undisclosed location.
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The 'death wish' confession
Among the last posts on her profile showing a collection of photos and videos from El Nido on May 1, Bella confessed she thought she may have a "death wish" while braving waters potentially infested with dangerous animals. She wrote: "Sometimes I think I have a death wish, me straight in the water just after they told me there's poisonous snakes, sea urchins and spiders."
She jetted off to Thailand two days later, with her mum Lyanne Kennedy saying she "was posting loads of pictures and then she went to Thailand on about May 3". She told Teesside Live: "The last message she sent was to me and that was on on Saturday at 5.30pm saying she was going to Facetime me later.
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"That was the last message anyone has received from what we can figure out up to now." Her family believed at the time that she was in the Pattya area of Thailand, near Bangkok, and had her phone turned off when she disappeared.
Detainment in Georgia
Ms Culley was allegedly caught carrying 14 kilograms of cannabis into Georgia when she was flagged during a routine scanner check at Tblisi International Airport. The inspection allegedly revealed "34 hermetically sealed packages containing marijuana were found in the passenger's bag, as well as 20 packages of hashish" according to local media.
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Reports further claim she was 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.
The Georgian Interior Ministry said the alleged crime could result in "up to 20 years - or life imprisonment". Ms Culley has been remanded in custody as she awaits trial, with a judge overseeing the case electing to refuse bail and hold her after deciding she posed a flight risk.
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Cleveland Police have confirmed an "18-year-old woman from Billingham" was arrested "on suspicion of drugs offences and that she remains in their custody".
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) told the Mirror: 'We are supporting the family of a British woman who is detained in Georgia and are in contact with the local authorities.'
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Pictures and a video taken in Georgia show the moment the teen is escorted, handcuffed, up the steps of the Central Criminal Police Department by a uniformed police officer.
Pregnancy twist
It's today been reported that Bella told the Tbilisi court she is pregnant.
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Major Georgian TV outlet Rustavi 2 reports the Brit (whose age has been recorded as 19 rather than 18) 'chose to exercise her right to remain silent regarding the charges'.
The channel gave no further details about her reported pregnancy.
Hellhole prison where Bella could spend next 20 years
If Ms Culley is convicted of her alleged crimes and receives a maximum sentence, she could end up spending up to 20 years in Georgia's sole female prison, Tblisi prison No 5. The institution, which houses several hundred women both convicted and awaiting conviction, comes with a grim reputation.
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Prisoners housed in cells at No.5 have complained about "degrading" treatment, with a 2015 report from a monitoring group with the Georgian Public Ombudsman finding new intake prisoners are "inspected naked and are requested to squat", something inmates "consider degrading treatment".
Prisoners also complained of "hygiene and sanitation problems", with members of the monitoring group finding standards were "violated significantly" in the same report, with the group finding showers at the facility "separated by rusting metal walls and without ventilation" and that some had windows without any glass panes.
A separate report from Human Rights Watch (HRW) submitted in 2006 deemed the facility "severely overcrowded". Amnesty International and Penal Reform International at the time urged the Georgian government to end ill-treatment in their prisons.
In a separate report from the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (CPT), authors said conditions were "degrading" and "inhuman", and went as far as to say they were "an affront to a civilised society" in its own report submitted the same year.