Latest news with #BellaMayCulley
Toronto Star
6 days ago
- Toronto Star
Georgian court rules to keep British teenager in custody over drug smuggling charges
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — A court in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi ruled Thursday to keep British teenager Bella May Culley in custody following her arrest in May on drug smuggling charges. Culley, 19, was arrested upon arrival at Tbilisi Airport and accused of attempting to smuggle 12 kilograms (26.4 pounds) of marijuana and 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of hashish into the country. If found guilty, she faces up to 20 years or life imprisonment.
Winnipeg Free Press
6 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Georgian court rules to keep British teenager in custody over drug smuggling charges
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — A court in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi ruled Thursday to keep British teenager Bella May Culley in custody following her arrest in May on drug smuggling charges. Culley, 19, was arrested upon arrival at Tbilisi Airport and accused of attempting to smuggle 12 kilograms (26.4 pounds) of marijuana and 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of hashish into the country. If found guilty, she faces up to 20 years or life imprisonment. An investigation is ongoing to identify possible accomplices in the case, Georgia's Prosecutor's office said. The teenager pleaded not guilty to the charges, saying she was tortured in Thailand and forced to carry the drugs. Culley's lawyer, Malkhaz Salakaia, told reporters that she showed visible physical signs of torture upon her arrival in Georgia. 'The torture occurred took place before the transportation of the luggage, which she never touched. Specific individuals handled and checked in her luggage,' Salakaia said. Speaking in front of Tbilisi City Court, Culley asked the judge to see the case 'from her eyes.' 'I never thought something like this would happen to me,' Culley said. Her lawyer also confirmed the teenager, who is pregnant, was receiving medical care from the prison's medical team. Culley's mother, Lyanne Kennedy, attended the hearing in Tbilisi and broke into tears upon hearing her daughter was carrying a baby boy. Culley's next hearing is scheduled for Sept. 2.
Associated Press
6 days ago
- Associated Press
Georgian court rules to keep British teenager in custody over drug smuggling charges
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — A court in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi ruled Thursday to keep British teenager Bella May Culley in custody following her arrest in May on drug smuggling charges. Culley, 19, was arrested upon arrival at Tbilisi Airport and accused of attempting to smuggle 12 kilograms (26.4 pounds) of marijuana and 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of hashish into the country. If found guilty, she faces up to 20 years or life imprisonment. An investigation is ongoing to identify possible accomplices in the case, Georgia's Prosecutor's office said. The teenager pleaded not guilty to the charges, saying she was tortured in Thailand and forced to carry the drugs. Culley's lawyer, Malkhaz Salakaia, told reporters that she showed visible physical signs of torture upon her arrival in Georgia. 'The torture occurred took place before the transportation of the luggage, which she never touched. Specific individuals handled and checked in her luggage,' Salakaia said. Speaking in front of Tbilisi City Court, Culley asked the judge to see the case 'from her eyes.' 'I never thought something like this would happen to me,' Culley said. Her lawyer also confirmed the teenager, who is pregnant, was receiving medical care from the prison's medical team. Culley's mother, Lyanne Kennedy, attended the hearing in Tbilisi and broke into tears upon hearing her daughter was carrying a baby boy. Culley's next hearing is scheduled for Sept. 2.
Daily Mirror
6 days ago
- Daily Mirror
'Pregnant Bella May Culley faces awful fate, raising a baby in jail destroyed me'
As pregnant 'drug mule' Bella May Culley pleads with the judge as she awaits her fate in Georgia, one woman recalls the harrowing reality of raising your child in prison Pregnant British teen Bella May Culley is facing life behind bars in Georgia after allegedly smuggling drugs into the country. And now questions are being raised about what life may look like for her and her baby if she is convicted. The 18-year-old today has issued a plea in court to see her story "through my eyes" – as it emerged she is due to have a baby boy. Bella – who previously claimed to have been tortured – told the judge: "I hope you understand my story through my eyes. I never thought something like this would happen to me." While her case unfolds in a foreign justice system thousands of miles from home, back in the UK, one woman knows all too well what it means to become a mother behind bars. Molly Ellis, now 32, was 26 years old and pregnant with her second child when she was convicted of conspiracy to defraud with a custodial sentence to serve seven years behind bars. Just 12 weeks after giving birth to Isla in December 2016, Molly walked through the gates of HMP Bronzefield to begin her sentence. "It was one of the hardest decisions of my life choosing to bring Isla into prison with me," she tells The Mirror. "But I couldn't face being apart from her." Pregnant 'drug mule' Bella Culley pleads with court as baby's gender revealed Pregnant Bella May Culley in court with bump as 'drug mule' teen's dad blows kiss Molly's journey into the criminal justice system was one full of trauma, desperation and, as she describes it, a "lack of support" at every turn. At just 16, she fell pregnant with her partner Michael Ogbuehi. But just weeks before she was due to give birth, the couple were involved in a horrific assault on a train from Southend. "He was left brain damaged," she says. "He couldn't walk or talk. I was his next of kin. He had no family - he came from the care system - and I had to care for him at the same time I was raising our newborn. "I completely spiralled. I couldn't work, I couldn't cope financially or emotionally. I was supporting him in hospital while raising a baby. I was very vulnerable. I was desperate. I wanted to be a good mum, but I had no way out." Molly found herself plummeting into a downward spiral following the attack that left her raising her daughter alone. "I got involved with a bad crowd," she explains. At 21-years-old, she found herself embroiled in a fraud case with a VIP car company after trying to put through a fake transaction, with Snaresbrook Crown Court sentencing her to a seven year custodial sentence five years after her initial crime took place. "When I finally got sentenced, I was two months post-partum," she explains. "Then I found out I could bring Isla into prison with me. Because of my first experience - having to parent while dealing with trauma - I didn't want to lose that bond." But from day one, it was clear that parenting in prison was a vastly different experience from the outside world. "There are only a handful of prisons in the UK that allow you to have your child with you - Bronzefield being one of them. You're completely separate from the main prison wings, but it's still a prison. You're locked behind doors. There are bars on the windows. You can't take your child outdoors unless it's part of an organised activity. Everything is controlled by the prison regime." Molly describes how emotionally harrowing the experience became. "It was mentally destroying. I was bonding with my daughter everyday, knowing she was going to be taken from me at some point. You get close to your baby, you hold them daily, and then you're reminded that this is temporary." At nine months, Molly made the heart-wrenching decision to send Isla to live with her parents. "She started becoming aware of the environment. She could see uniforms. I thought the kindest thing I could do was let her go." That handover remains one of her darkest memories. "They bring your family into the visit hall. You pass your baby across, and they walk away. You don't know when you'll see them again." As Bella May Culley awaits trial in Georgia, the possibility of her serving time while pregnant - or with a newborn - is becoming increasingly real. Bella is alleged to have smuggled dozens of bags of cannabis and hashish into the former Soviet Union country of Georgia and is currently being held in prison. For Molly, the thought of a teenage mother giving birth abroad, alone, is "terrifying." "She's a UK citizen with a UK child in her stomach. Why is no one stepping in? Will she get nappies? Maternity support? Will her family be able to visit? Will she even be allowed to keep the baby with her? These are the things nobody is asking." She adds: "I saw women give birth in prison cells because they weren't taken seriously. Officers ignored calls for help. Imagine that happening to Bella in another country. It's unthinkable." While Molly doesn't excuse crime, she believes there must be a line between punishment and protection. "If Bella is guilty, yes, she needs to be held accountable. But this is a young girl, pregnant, and potentially alone in a foreign prison." Molly was eventually released after serving two and a half years in prison. She didn't see her daughter again for nearly nine months after the separation. "I didn't want her to see me in prison again. I waited until I was on temporary release. But by then, I had to rebuild everything. The bond, the trust, the relationship - it all had to start from scratch." Her eldest daughter, Ava, also suffered during Molly's time in prison. "She was just about to start Year 7 when I was released. She didn't understand why I left her. There was trauma there, deep trauma. Even now, we're still repairing our relationship." What followed was years of reintegration, from learning how to parent again to rebuilding a life from the ground up. "You can't show emotion in prison. You can't cry or fall apart. But when you're out, you have to become soft again - for your children. That's the hardest part." Today, Molly, from Essex, runs Project Accountability, a charity that works with care leavers, victims of domestic abuse, and young people at risk of knife crime and gang involvement. "I now go into prisons and work with people who remind me of myself. I know how they got there. We look at their trauma, their past, their triggers - and we offer them employment routes, therapy, mentorship." The charity is continuing to expand, with plans to gain government funding and help more children and people from underprivileged backgrounds to change their pathway and gain employment. James Pipe, Legal Expert at Felons Assistance, warns that Bella faces one of the "most serious offences a tourist can face." He adds: "In many countries, including Georgia, drug offences carry long custodial sentences, and prison conditions may not meet the standards we expect in the UK." And he thinks it might be hard for her to return to the UK. "This is not a case of the UK stepping in to 'rescue' someone from justice abroad, It's about ensuring that due process is followed and her rights, particularly as a pregnant detainee, are respected."
ITV News
6 days ago
- ITV News
Pregnant teen Bella May Culley appears in Georgia court on drug charges as baby's gender revealed
A pregnant British teenager charged with drug trafficking has appeared in court in Georgia in Eastern Europe where the gender of her baby was revealed. Bella May Culley, from Billingham, was denied bail at the hearing on Thursday (24 July) in Tbilisi which was told the 18-year-old found out yesterday that she was expecting a baby boy. She is accused of drug trafficking, which carries up to 20 years, or life imprisonment, after being arrested in May. Culley denies the offence and her defence told the court that she maintains she was forced into cooperation. They cited a mark on her wrist as evidence of physical abuse while the lawyer claimed that the criminals were intimidating her by threatening the lives of her young brother and mother. Georgian authorities released this footage which they say said in May showed a British citizen being led into a police station It is also their case that she was not the one who checked in the bag containing drugs and that Culley tried communicating with the airport staff but she was being watched. The defence team has handed over names, addresses and descriptions of the individuals who they claim forced her to commit the crimes, the court heard. She was told that somebody would meet her at the airport to grab the bag but the lawyer claims that those involved have already left Georgia. Culley herself spoke briefly during the hearing, which was also attended by her mother who made a heart with her hands. 'Gamarjoba (Hello in Georgian), she said. "I hope you can understand my story through my eyes. "I never thought something like that would happen to me. Madloba. (Thank you in Georgian).' Culley was reported missing in Thailand. An appeal for information was then shared on Facebook by her family and friends. They said they were "worried sick" after not hearing from her for three days and said she had last been seen in the Pattya area of the country where she had been on holiday. It was then confirmed on 14 May that a British citizen had been arrested on charges of drug trafficking by the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs. It said 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 statement also said: 'Law enforcement officers, as a result of defendant's luggage inspection at Tbilisi International Airport, seized a particularly large amount of the narcotic drug "marijuana", up to 12 kilograms and 2.068 kg of the narcotic drug "hashish" as evidence.' At the hearing today, Culley began to cry as the prosecution said there was no new evidence changing the state of her case. They added that without her being detained, she posed a flight risk and was at danger of repeating offences. The case was adjourned until Tuesday 2 September.
