Latest news with #PreventionofTortureandInhumanorDegradingTreatment
Metro
17-05-2025
- Metro
Clues in ‘drugs mule' Bella May Culley's posts showed trip was turning dark
British teenager Bella May Culley is facing a life sentence for alleged drug trafficking in Georgia – but some social media posts have signalled the teen may have already been in trouble. Like most people her age, Bella loved social media, posting about her travels almost daily while abroad and sharing photos in glamorous places. But a few of these posts have raised eyebrows. In one photo, Bella held wads of cash tied up with a silk hairband, captioned: 'But nothing hurts when I'm with youuuuu' Another showed Bella in a bikini, with a caption alluding to a Bonnie and Clyde-like scenario. 'Blonde or brunette? Erm, how about we get up to criminal activities side by side like Bonnie n' Clyde, making heavy figures and f***ing on balconies all over the world? 'I don't care if we on the run baby, long as I'm next to you,' she said. Another photo showed Bella smoking a joint while riding in the passenger seat of a car. Just yesterday, her family revealed she spent time with a mystery man called 'Russ' – further deepening the mystery. The Billingham, County Durham resident told a Tbilisi court on Wednesday that she is pregnant. Her grandad revealed that Bella was meeting a man she 'used to go out with' during her dream holiday in Southeast Asia. William Culley, 80, said: 'She went to the Philippines to see somebody, a lad there, who she used to go out with a couple of years ago, who was working out there. 'She said, 'I'm going on my own, but I'm meeting Ross out there.' Or Russ, I'm not sure what his name is. 'He was working out there for his father's company or something – but now I wonder if what she told me was true.' Bella's social media did show her in the company of an unknown man, though he was never clearly photographed or filmed. More Trending He added: 'Last night they were told they could see her in the morning. They said they'd ring me straight after they had seen her, but I haven't had a call. They must still be waiting.' Culley is currently being held but could face the prospect of calling Tbilisi Prison No.5 her new home. Another report by the Human Rights Watch in 2006 found the prison to be 'severely overcrowded' while the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (CPT) called conditions 'degrading' and 'inhuman and constitute 'an affront to a civilised society' that same year. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Drug driver who killed newborn baby after speeding through red light jailed MORE: Last footage of 'murdered' dad before he was found dead beneath Benidorm cliff MORE: Prison governor jailed for nine years over affair with drugs kingpin
Metro
14-05-2025
- Metro
Inside 'degrading' Georgian prison where British teen could spend her life
British teenager Bella May Culley, 18, could face a life sentence in one of eastern Europe's most notorious jails. The teen was arrested in Georgia on suspicion of smuggling 14 kilos of cannabis into the country days after being reported missing in Thailand. In another twist, Culley told a court in Tbilisi yesterday that she is pregnant and will now undergo a medical examination. Culley is currently being held but could face the prospect of calling Tbilisi Prison No.5 her new home. It is the country's only female prison, a harsh unit in a state of decay, where prisoners have complained about 'degrading' treatment. Pictures from inside the prison show tiny single bunk beds packed into rooms with a beige interior. Other pictures show long tables in an artificially lit dining room where prisoners sit down to eat. The Georgian Public Ombudsman revealed in a 2015 report that when new prisoners enter the prison they are 'inspected naked and are requested to squat', something inmates 'consider degrading treatment'. The report said: 'It should be mentioned that such inspections take place every time an accused/convicted person enters or leaves the penitentiary facility. 'According to inmates, this procedure is especially humiliating and intensive during an inmate's menstrual cycle. 'In some cases, because of the nature of such procedures, inmates refuse services offered outside of the facility or choose to miss court hearings.' The report then added that the prison should adopt non-invasive searches such as scanning to avoid psychological or physical consequences. According to the report, running water is cold, unsuitable for drinking and in bathrooms there are single floor drains which cause dirty water to pool on the floor. Prisoners stand on concrete when showering, that are separated by rusting metal walls and opposite one another so lack privacy. It mentions that cells for prisoners with life sentences are damp and prisoners ask to be housed in normal conditions. More Trending It also highlighted problems with transportation to and from the prison for women and mothers and said: 'The vehicle is described as cold, smelling, unpleasant and with water leaking from the roof. 'During transit, inmates have to maintain their balance on long benches while holding their children. After such trips they described feeling pain in the small of their backs and in their muscles. 'According to standard rules for the treatment of prisoners, transportation of prisoners in conditions of insufficient ventilation, or light, or in other poor conditions is prohibited.' Another report by the Human Rights Watch in 2006 found the prison to be 'severely overcrowded' while the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (CPT) called conditions 'degrading' and 'inhuman and constitute 'an affront to a civilised society' that same year. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Neo-Nazi extremists built 3D-printed gun while plotting 'real-world attack' MORE: Girl, 14, dies at home with man and woman arrested over 'unexplained' death MORE: Teenager hit woman seconds after inhaling 'hippy crack' at wheel of her Fiat 500
