Bella Culley freed from Georgian prison
Bella Culley, a pregnant teenager who had confessed to heroin trafficking charges in Georgia, had said she was good and relieved
when she was released from jail. The 19-year-old from Billingham, Teesside, had been facing up to 20 years in prison before being sentenced to 20 months in prison, but prosecutors secured a last-minute extension to a plea deal. Miss Culley gave her counsel Malkhaz Salakaia a big hug as she learned of the news in Tbilisi. The adolescent was arrested at Tbilisi International Airport on May 10 with 12 kilograms (26lb) of marijuana and 2kg (4). Hashish was discovered in her luggage and was 4lb (in total).
Prosecutors made the amendments to the plea agreement, but Mr Salakaia said she and the mother of the child had to be released because of her age and pregnancy. On Monday, Miss Culley will be able to leave the country and resume her passport. Miss Culley, who is eight months pregnant, told reporters she did not expect to be released today walking arm-in-arm with her mother Lyanne Kennedy outside court.
The teen burst into a grin when she was told she would be releasedd, leading to a massive smile. Bella Culley pleaded guilty to the charge of trafficking drugs into Georgia, and she hugged her counsel before the court hearing began, with the judge asking procedural questions, such as whether or not Bellackett pleadeyed guilty. She answered yes
. Throughout the trial, she stayed smiling at her mother and exchanging smiles until she was released from the court and the pair, both crying with joy, embraced.
Lawyers representing the teen are embroiled in discussions with Georgian judicial authorities, with further information set to be announced later. Her family had recently paid £137,000 to reduce her prison term to two years, but she had to wait until she was released.
Miss Culley pleaded guilty to bringing drugs into Georgia while flying from Thailand to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. However, she was coerced to do so by gangsters who tortured her with hot iron. She went missing while traveling in Thailand, and her lawyer said Georgian police had opened a separate criminal probe into her coercion allegations.
I just wanted to travel,
she said at a previous hearing.
Mr. Culley had been detained in pre-trial detention since May, first in Georgia's Rustavi Prison Number Five, under brutal conditions before being transferred to aI am a good person. I am a student at university. I am a clean person. I don't do drugs.
mother and babyunit.
After negotiating the plea agreement, Mr Salakaia said he intended to appeal to Georgia's president to pardon her.
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