THE British teenager arrested on suspicion of smuggling drugs was reportedly visibly shaken when she learned she faced life in jail.
Bella Culley’s lawyer has described the teen’s emotional state for the first time after meeting with her dad and aunt.
An 18-year-old girl named Bella is in serious trouble as she was taken into custody at Tbilisi airport for reportedly bringing in 34 bags of marijuana that were concealed in her baggage.
The teen’s lawyer, la Todua, told The Sun that Bella was shocked at the news and said that she “didn’t know what she was doing”.
Ms Todua said: “When I explained to her the consequences – that she could be sentenced to 15-20 years in prison or life – she was visibly shaken.
“My impression was that she ended up in Georgia without even knowing what she was doing.
“I got the impression she wasn’t expecting those consequences.”
The lawyer revealed that Bella had yet to explain to her own legal team how or why she came to be in Georgia with the huge stash of drugs.
Ms Todua said: “She has not explained anything to me about the drugs – there will be a more detailed discussion about this later.
“This means that I have been unable to explain anything to her father.”
The teen from Teeside stunned her family further when she announced that she was pregnant at her first court appearance on Wednesday.
During the court hearing, Ms. Todua shared that Bella was quite emotional and even declared that she is expecting a child. As a result, one of the initial steps to be taken is a medical evaluation to confirm her pregnancy.
“The pregnancy will be investigated.”
Bella has formally requested permission for her father, Niel, and her aunt, Kerrie, to visit her in prison. However, the approval process for this visitation could potentially take up to five business days to complete.
Ms Todua said: “The visit could happen as soon as tomorrow but could be as late as next Wednesday, protocols have to be followed.
“Bella has written a letter to the authorities asking them to allow her father to visit, but they have not yet responded.
“They might respond tomorrow so he can go in, but they have up to five days to respond.
“Bella has the right to demand a short term visit from her family of up to one hour.
“They would meet in a room, there would be no glass separating them.”
Bella’s dad and aunt were seen leaving the lawyer’s looking upset and were being supported by UK embassy staff.
But the lawyer assured that the pair had remained “calm” throughout the ordeal.
The lawyer also revealed that Bella had been assigned a young English-speaking foreign cellmate while on remand but declined to say what offence they had allegedly committed.
Bella reportedly entered the Georgian capital on a flight from Thailand via Sharjah in the UAE, according to Ms Todua.
The teen reportedly hid the weighty cannabis and hashish stash in separate packets crammed into her hold bag.
Bella now faces between ten years and life for suspected drug smuggling.
But her distraught family are convinced she was led astray.
Bella previously told loved ones she was meeting a man in the Philippines, sparking a police hunt for the mystery man.
Bella’s social media showed her clearly in the company of a male stranger on her travels – but he was never clearly pictured or named.
Her granddad William Culley, 80, confirmed yesterday that while she appears to have spent most of March in Thailand she also spent time in the Philippines with a man called “Ross or Russ”.
Mr Culley 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.”
Video clips and snaps shared on social media show the teen holding onto a man as she rides pillion on a scooter and another shows her smoking a cannabis spliff.
Another on TikTok shows her joking about “Bonnie and Clyde” crimes and is captioned: “Don’t care if we on the run baby as long as I’m next to u.”
But Bella’s male companion’s face never appears in the posts and he is never tagged.
Family members said yesterday that she went on to meet a group of young men from the north west of England in Thailand before she was reported missing on Saturday.
Her family raised the alarm, sparking a frantic search which ended in Bella’s shocking arrest in Tbilisi.
Bella’s dad – who lives in Vietnam – even travelled to Thailand to help look for her.
Her dad has now travelled to Tbilisi to try to see Bella, as he told how he is suffering “every parent’s worst nightmare”.
Bella appeared in court in the Georgian capital after being detained by cops who are believed to have acted on a tip-off.
Local sources said a border check revealed “34 hermetically sealed packages containing marijuana were found in the passenger’s bag, as well as 20 packages of hashish”.
The teen faces charges of illegally purchasing and storing narcotics, illegally purchasing and storing the narcotic drug marijuana, and illegally importing it into Georgia and is due back in court on July 1.
Unexplained records have also emerged revealing Bella’s apparent business links to the Far East – with her listed as the director of at least two companies with Chinese ties.
Bella’s cousin took to Facebook yesterday to make a statement.
She wrote: “No parents ever want to find themselves in this situation, and they are going through the worst time of their lives right now and are at the start of an extremely difficult journey.
“Speculation and rumours are making it harder to navigate through this nightmare.”
