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Pregnant Brit ‘drug mule' Bella Culley facing 15 years in jail despite plea she was forced to smuggle £200k of cannabis
TEENAGE drug mule suspect Bella Culley faces 15 years in jail despite her plea that she was forced to peddle drugs from Thailand, prosecutors revealed today.
Bella, 19, was caught in the former Soviet state of Georgia in May with
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A Georgian prosecutor told The Sun that they have evidence the Brit 'acted with prior intent'
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Bella Culley seen in court at the beginning of July as her devastated family watched on
Credit: Supplied
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She is
But, speaking for the first time, Georgian prosecutor Vakhtang Tsaluqelashvili revealed that he plans to contest the pregnant teenager's claims.
And he added that the state has found evidence which
Mr Tsaluqelashvili told The Sun: 'We have evidence confirming that the defendant acted with prior intent.
read more on the case
'She passed through several
airports
, and at no stage did she display any such, let's say, position or behaviour that would make us think this was not an intentional crime.
'Among other things, at the moment of her arrest, she did not say anything of this kind to the Georgian customs officers either.
'Given the gravity of the offence committed, the minimum expected sentence is 15 years - even taking into account the mitigating circumstances.'
Bella got pregnant after a fling with an unidentified British man on the first leg of her
Most read in The Sun
The naive youngster from Billingham, Teesside, said she was forced to board a plane and never saw the baggage containing 31lbs of cannabis and hashish until she was arrested.
She also claimed she had no idea where
New CCTV of Brit 'mule' Bella May Culley 'smuggling £200k of cannabis' released as cops slam her claims she was coerced
But
Mr Tsaluqelashvil said a plea bargain deal between the prosecution and defence was still possible - but may still result in jail time or a suspended sentence plus a fine.
Her lawyer Malkhaz Salakaia said that a plea bargain for his client to return to Britain was "quite likely" adding the "opportunity has been mentioned several times".
Mr Salakaia told Tbilisi City Court yesterday: 'Bella has an obvious
health
condition - she is soon to be a mother to a baby boy and I want her to experience it while free.
'It's a pivotal moment in one's life, especially one so young. She is only 19.'
Mr Salakaia added: 'There was no malicious intent on Bella's part - she was pressured and forced and there is irrefutable evidence of that.
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She was caught at Tblisi International Airport with 30 pounds of marijuana and hashish in her luggage on May 10
Credit: Prime Time
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Bella's mum Lyanne Kennedy (centre) leaving court in Tbilisi on Thursday
"Her testimony contains even the names and last names of the individuals who forced her to
transport
it, she was threatened, as well as her family, including her mother who is present today.
'I want to underline that she didn't hand in the baggage - all she knows is that there is this luggage and she will be met by certain individuals once she arrives.
'The bag wasn't even locked, and it went through three countries and two continents, while Bella to this day is unaware whether Tbilisi is a country or a city.
'Bella didn't commit this crime and there is no grounds to doubt her testimony. I hope you are convinced your honor and knowing your past practice.
'I am sure she won't be found guilty."
Bella - who has been supported at hearings by her mum Lyanne Kennedy and
oil
rig worker dad Niel Culley - is due back in court in the Georgian capital Tbilisi on September 2.
Inside the dark world of Brit 'drug mules'
A SLEW of drug mule arrests involving Brits have emerged in the last few months.
In April and May,
Bella was the first after she allegedly tried to smuggle a suitcase of weed into Georgia.
Meanwhile, former air stewardess
Her two suitcases were said to have been stuffed with 46kg of a synthetic cannabis strain known as kush — which is 25 times more potent than opioid fentanyl.
If found guilty, South Londoner Charlotte could face a 25-year sentence.
As a young mum was detained in Germany for allegedly smuggling cannabis in her bags on a flight from Thailand - in yet another shocking case.
Glamorous Cameron Bradford, 21, from Knebworth, Herts, was detained at Munich Airport on April 21 as she tried to collect her luggage.
It comes as a Brit couple claiming to be tourists from Thailand have been busted with more than 33kg of cannabis in their suitcases at a Spanish airport.
The pair were picked out by suspicious cops at Valencia Airport after displaying a 'nervous and evasive attitude' and are now behind bars on drug trafficking charges.
Experts told The Sun how wannabe Brit Insta stars are being lured by cruel gangs into carting drugs across the world.
Then last month, a six-year-old British
The lad was picked up by customs officials along with his mum and five other Brits as they arrived on the tropical island.
Authorities branded the
