Relatives of “smart” 18-year-old British citizen are worried after she was accused of bringing 30 pounds of marijuana into Georgia. They are concerned they might lose contact with her and suspect someone may have manipulated her.

The grandfather of a British student who was arrested in Georgia for allegedly smuggling 14 kilos (30lbs) of cannabis into the former Soviet state has told of his fears of never seeing the ‘intelligent’ teenager again.

‘Terrified’ Bella May Culley, 18, faces being caged in an overcrowded ex-Soviet jail after being arrested on drug smuggling charges earlier this week.

The teenager took to the stand to announce that she was pregnant in a hearing yesterday at Tbilisi city court, before adding she would reserve the right to remain silent.

She will now undergo a medical examination where doctors will assess the veracity of her claims. 

Bella May’s grandfather William Culley, 80, sobbed as he told the Mail how distraught family members remained in limbo not knowing how the youngster came to be in Georgia saddled with drugs and suggested she had ‘obviously’ been taken advantage of.

Speaking at his home in Billingham, Teesside, Mr Culley said: ‘I’m terrified that she’s in for a long sentence. I might never see her again – I’m 80 years old.

‘She’s got sucked into something, somehow. She’s not an international drug trafficker.

‘Can she even tell them who’s given her the drugs to take over? I bet she doesn’t. These people keep out of the way. It’s all just very strange and at the moment we just don’t have any answers.

‘We don’t know what to think. She was just going on holiday and then we never heard from her.’

Mr Culley said his son and Bella May’s father, Niel, had flown from his home in Vietnam to Georgia to meet Bella in prison. 

The teenager appeared to have been living a life of luxury, scuba diving and partying on the tropical islands of Palawan and Panay in the Philippines, where she explored coastal caves and played with turtles.

In posts on TikTok and Instagram, Culley also flaunted huge stacks of cash, showing off a pile of £10 and £20 notes held together by a hairband.

However, her online posts stopped abruptly last week, sparking fears from her family that she may have vanished while on a trip to Thailand.

Unbeknownst to them, Culley had been detained more than 3,000 miles away in Georgia after allegedly being caught carrying 30 pounds (14kg) of cannabis at Tbilisi International Airport.

Her lawyer confirmed to the Mail that her father Niel is now en route to Tbilisi. His sister Kerrie was due to fly to Thailand to help search for Bella May – but discovered while at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport that her niece had been detained in Georgia.

William Culley told the Mail his granddaughter was ‘intelligent’ and ‘not daft’ and would not knowingly have involved herself with drugs.

Mr Culley said: ‘We feared the worst because nobody knew where she was.

‘Kerrie called me last night and said she had been found. I said: ”How can you have found her? You’re in Schiphol”. And she said: ”we found her, she’s in jail… drugs.”

‘I couldn’t believe it. Who the hell has she been with? She was on holiday with some friends, doing what 18-year-olds do – drinking and dancing.

‘They must have met somebody who’s taken advantage of her.’

Mr Culley described his granddaughter as a ‘normal’ 18-year-old who lived with her brother and mother in social housing in Billingham. 

She had recently completed a college course in Middlesbrough and was making plans to enter the nursing profession.

Mr Culley said: ‘She’s not daft, she’s an intelligent girl. Why has she done it? Has someone dangled money in front of her? We just don’t know what has gone on until we get out there and talk to her.

‘We are just hoping that somebody can do something. She must be terrified.’

A former Georgian police officer warned of the lengthy jail sentences the British teen could face.

The nursing student, who has been preliminarily detained for two months as investigations continue, is currently ‘terrified and confused’, according to the lawyer.

It appears she was detained in a planned sting operation by the Black Sea nation’s elite Special Tasks Department, a unit within Georgia’s Central Criminal Police that deals only with the most high-profile cartel and organised crime cases.

Former police general Jemal Janashia, one of the country’s foremost drug crime experts, told the Mail: ‘The fact that she was detained by CrimPol’s Special Tasks Department suggests this wasn’t a random search, but a planned operation.

‘And the quantity of drugs found on her makes it hard to remain optimistic.

‘It’s a grim situation – people have been sentenced to eight years or more for possessing twenty times less in the past decade.’

Janashia went on: ‘Drug offences are one of the key priorities for the Georgian police. Theoretically, given the amount discovered, she could face life imprisonment. 

‘In practice, however, that sentence is usually reserved for murderers and high-level organised crime figures.

‘Still, a sentence of 15 to 20 years is a very real possibility.’ 

In recent social media posts, Culley – a nursing student – shared what appeared to be clips of herself ‘smoking cannabis’ while riding in the back of a car.

She also often made references to notorious American outlaws Bonnie and Clyde. 

‘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 over the world,’ she bragged in one video on April 1.

In a caption she added: ‘I don’t care if we on the runnnnn baby long as i’m next to uuu.’ 

Culley’s last posts on Instagram and Tiktok came on May 9. She was reported missing after family members did not hear from her from May 10.

The 18-year-old was reportedly 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.

During an inspection, ’34 hermetically sealed packages containing marijuana were found in the passenger’s bag, as well as 20 packages of hashish,’ local media has claimed.

Appearing in a court in Tbilisi, Culley did not answer the judge’s questions regarding drugs allegations.

She told the court she chose to remain silent about the charges brought against her, Rustavi TV channel reported.

The judge remanded her in custody.

The report said Culley was arrested at Tbilisi Airport after a suspicious subject was found in her bag. The suspected drugs seized are the main evidence in the case.

Culley’s Georgian lawyer sought her release on bail.

They told reporters: ‘My client is currently exercising the right to remain silent, so we will provide detailed information later, once they decide how to proceed.

‘A formal request must be submitted to the relevant authority, and then more detailed information regarding my client can be provided.

‘At this stage, [she is] invoking [her] right to silence, and further developments will be shared later once a decision is made.’

Culley had recently finished a course at Middlesbrough College with the aim of becoming a nurse and was due to speak to her mother Lyanne Kennedy on Saturday before disappearing.

She now faces time in Tbilisi Prison No.5, Georgia’s only female prison.

A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report into the lock-up previously criticised the ‘severely overcrowded’ facility after the group, alongside Amnesty International and Penal Reform International, urged the Georgian government to end ill-treatment in their prisons in 2006

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (CPT) described the conditions at No 5 as ‘degrading’, ‘inhuman’ and as such ‘an affront to a civilised society’ that same year.

A HRW report also detailed the facility as being in a ‘state of disrepair’ at the time with ‘crumbling’ walls and floors. Some inmates had to sit on ‘two-tier metal bunk beds’ when they were not sleeping.

The bathrooms were described as ‘decaying and filthy’, while all the cells were said to have smelled ‘strongly of human sweat, human excrement, and cigarette smoke,’ with garbage also found scattered near cell doors.

Before police confirmed Culley’s arrest, her mother Lyanne told Teesside Live: ‘She flew out to the Philippines after Easter with a friend and she was there for three weeks.

‘She was posting loads of pictures and then she went to Thailand on about May 3.

‘The last message she sent was to me and that was on Saturday at 5.30pm saying she was going to Facetime me later.

‘That was the last message anyone has received from what we can figure out up to now.

‘I’m just waiting on her dad who is now in Bangkok to get back with any more information. I just want her home and safe or to hear her gorgeous little voice.’