British 'drug mule' faces raising her child in ex-Soviet prison until it is taken away from her when it turns three - as source reveals real reason teenager flew out to Far East
Teenage British 'drugs mule' Bella Culley faces raising her child behind bars in Georgia after she was caught entering the country with £200,000 worth of cannabis.
The 18-year-old told court she was pregnant after 14kg of drugs were found in her hold luggage as she entered the Black Sea nation from Thailand last Saturday.
She faces a minimum of 15 years if convicted meaning the baby would be raised inside notorious Women's Colony No 5 outside the capital, Tbilisi.
It comes as we can reveal Bella has confided in a source close to her legal case that she flew out to South East Asia 'for love'.
'She said that she was in love and that love was the reason she flew out to the Far East,' the source said. 'But she has said nothing about why she had the drugs.'
It adds to fears she was taken advantage of by someone involved in drugs trafficking after she posted cryptic messages on social media comparing herself to Bonnie and Clyde days before travelling from Bangkok to Tbilisi via Sharjah in the UAE.
Bella's father Niel Culley, 49, and auntie Kerrie Culley, 51, flew out to Tbilisi on Wednesday but have still not been able to visit her in jail due to bureaucracy.
Niel, who lives in Vietnam, was seen shaking whilst having a cigarette outside their hotel today and told the press he does not wish to comment on the case.
He faces the agonising possibility of his first grandchild being born in prison in a country thousands of miles away from his home.
Officials have confirmed to the Mail that they have special rooms for inmates who have children where they can raise them for the first three years of their life.
After this period the toddler must be put up for custody with a family member if their mother is still serving their sentence - which would likely apply to Bella.
It raises huge complications as, while Bella's family is all British, her child would be born Georgian and citizens of the country are not allowed to hold more than one passport.
Georgian lawyer Eliso Rukhadze, who specialises in women's rights, told the Mail: 'Bella would be transferred to a hospital to have the baby and then rushed back to prison.
'Over the last few years, a large amount of funds have been allocated to make the space for mother and babies as comfortable as possible.
'For up to three years, the child would grow up there and the mum would have unrestricted access to the child, including breastfeeding, and then would have to be cared for by a family member.
'The nationality will add complications. If the child is Georgian, and the family is British, they will have to take extra steps to be given wardship of the child.
'It won't be put up for adoption. The child will only be given to members of the family, but it adds an extra layer of bureaucracy.'
Fears have been raised over the treatment of inmates in reports on Women's Colony No 5 with inmates reportedly subjected to degrading strip searches and forced to squat for inspection.
But Ms Rukhadze insisted measures are in place to support mothers and their children.
She said: 'It's not a stressful environment and they try to support these mothers as much as they can inside the prison, including help from a psychologist.
'There is a kindergarten and nursery too. They try to create as comfortable conditions for the child as possible in a prison.'
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