BRIT Bella Culley caused a stir when she was first reported missing by her devastated family, only to be charged with drug smuggling days later.
The 19-year-old then went to court because she not only pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine worth £200,000 Georgia but she also whispered to her lawyer that she was pregnant.
Bella faced not only a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars, but also the grim prospect of raising her first child from inside a hellish ex-Soviet prison cell.
During her trial, Bella also revealed the real reason why she agreed to carry the luggage full of drugs from Thailand to Tbilisi.
She claimed that a gang in Bangkok threatened to kill her family if she didn’t do what they were told and made her watch videos of beheadings.
Today we saw another shocking revelation about Bella.
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He was sensationally allowed to walk free when he emerged from jail with a beaming smile on his face.
A judge sentenced her to five months and 25 days in prison as part of a plea deal.
The sentence dates back to the first day she was locked up, meaning she was a free woman as soon as she was locked up. court The papers were signed.
Beautiful, emotional and very pregnant, she told reporters outside a Tbilisi court that she was “happy and relieved” to be freed.
The young British woman added that she never expected to be allowed out of jail today.
He was also on the phone with his father at home, laughing and saying, “I’m not in jail anymore!”
Santa Claus responded, “That’s great!”
SHOCK ARREST
When the world first heard Bella Culley’s name, it was her family who made a desperate call for help to find her.
At just 18 years old, the Culley family raised the alarm during Bella’s holiday to the Far East in May.
He hadn’t been able to contact anyone for several days, even though he normally inundated his family with text messages.
This sparked a huge international search operation.
Days later, a shocking drug bust was reported in Georgia.
Authorities said “an 18-year-old woman from Billingham has been arrested on suspicion of drug offenses and remains in custody.”
Footage soon revealed that the detained teenager was Bella, 4,000 miles away from where the search party was taking place.
She was seen being led into court in handcuffs accused of trying to smuggle 34 bags of marijuana into her luggage through the Georgia capital’s main airport.
PREGNANCY PUMP
Bella reportedly became pregnant by a British man before becoming embroiled in the long ordeal.
When the teenager was initially sentenced to 18 months in prison, she was expected to give birth to her baby in the grim Georgia jail.
His family desperately tried to clarify arrangements for the birth amid suggestions he could be granted a period of house arrest as the deadline approached.
It is understood the teenager’s mother, Lyanne, had made plans to move to Georgia to help raise the boy, due for Christmas.
She insisted that she did not want the baby to spend any time in prison, so she would be prepared to move from the UK.
After his daughter’s hearing, he said, “We want to know more about house arrest; I would have to come to Georgia to help.”
Meanwhile, Bella asked her lawyer Malkhaz Salakaia: “Will I be able to take the baby if I go back to prison?”
Mr Salakaia responded: “No one is going to take your baby away from you.”
Threats of beheading
Bella’s legal team told the court the teenager was shown a gruesome video of the beheading and was warned she faced the same fate.
She feared for her life when she was put on the flight from Bangkok in May, her defense said, adding that she did not know she was trafficking drugs.
The trainee nurse also claimed the gang threatened to harm her parents and 16-year-old brother, suggesting they knew where they lived.
Her Georgian lawyer, Malkhaz Salakaia, alleged that the gang terrorized the teenager into becoming a mule.
He told The Sun: “They told him: ‘We know your parents’ addresses, we know where your 16-year-old brother is.’
“They made her watch a video of a man being beheaded and told her: ‘If you don’t do what they tell you, this is what will happen to you and your family.’
“She felt dizzy and almost fainted but they still forced her to watch it”
He added: “On the inside of his right arm there is a mark of this coercion.
“They branded her, so to speak, with a hot iron on the arm.
“They forced her to do this; there was both psychological and physical pressure, the trace of which is still visible.
“In terms of his connection with this group, I knew several of them: they are British.
“At first he met one, and then through him he met the others. However, we have reason to assume that this group also had local accomplices, including in Thailand.”
SHOCK RELEASE
Bella was sensationally released from prison today after serving six months behind bars in a hellish Georgia prison.
Just minutes before Monday morning’s final hearing a new plea deal was reached that allowed for his full release from jail.
The court’s U-turn was formally confirmed by Judge Giorgi Gelashvili when Bella received the news.
One viewer said: “She was laughing and crying at the same time like she couldn’t believe it.”
She then spoke a few words outside the Tbilisi court, telling reporters that she was “happy and relieved” to be freed.
The young British woman added that she never expected to be allowed out of jail today.
His emotional mother Lyanne Kennedy, 44, burst into tears when she was told the teenager would be freed.
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He sobbed outside the court saying: “I’m so happy, so happy – I know I don’t look like it, but so happy.
“We’ll need to get your passport and then we’ll leave, today or tomorrow.”
