Bella May Culley’s mother, Lyanne Kennedy, said the 19-year-old was moved to a prison with a mother and baby unit as the family continues to plead for her to return home.
A pregnant British teenager accused of drug trafficking has been moved to a mother and baby unit in a Georgia prison, where she has access to a shower and “a proper bathroom,” her mother said.
Bella May Culley, 19, who was believed to be eight months pregnant, was detained at Tbilisi airport in May. The 19-year-old, from Teesside, is alleged to have attempted to smuggle 12 kilograms (26.4 pounds) of marijuana and two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of hashish into the country.
Culley’s mother, Lyanne Kennedy, told the BBC that her daughter has been moved to a prison with a mother and baby unit. She was previously detained at Rustavi Prison Number Five in Georgia, and the broadcaster reported that she only had access to a hole in the ground for a bathroom, an hour of fresh air each day, and communal showers twice a week.
READ MORE: Pregnant British ‘drug mule’ Bella Culley ‘toasts bread with a candle’ in Georgia prison
Kennedy told the BBC that during Culley’s time in prison he toasted bread over a candle flame and boiled pasta in a kettle. But now she has been moved to another prison and her conditions appear to have improved, he said.
“Now he can walk for two hours, he can use the communal kitchen, he has a shower in his room and a proper bathroom,” Kennedy told the BBC.
“Everyone cooks for each other. Bella has been making egg bread and cheese toast, and salt and pepper chicken.”
Kennedy told the station that the family is doing everything they can to get Culley home “where he should be.”
He said his daughter’s full story “will come in time,” adding, “Until then we will just be a family doing everything we can for my daughter and grandson.”
The teenager has reportedly described being tortured by gangsters in Thailand and forced to bring drugs into the country. Culley is expected to be sentenced Monday after his attorneys negotiated with Georgia judicial authorities.
His family has paid more than £137,000 as part of a plea deal aimed at reducing his sentence. His lawyer, Malkhaz Salakaia, told the BBC that once a deal was reached he would appeal to the president of Georgia to pardon the teenager.
As part of the deal, Culley was told she will be sentenced to two years in prison. The 19-year-old, who is expected to give birth in December, will be formally sentenced tomorrow.
Prosecutor Vakhtang Tsalugelashvili told the court: “A plea agreement has been reached. Our conditions have been met.” The teenager’s lawyer said: “I can confirm this. All relevant parties have also been informed. We would like to ask the judge to schedule a final hearing to render the final verdict.”
Bella’s lawyer also requested that his client be released on bail before the sentencing hearing, which will be held at the Tbilisi City Court next Monday (November 3). Judge Giorgi Gelashvili denied the motion and told him there were no legal grounds to change his conditions.
Mr Salakaia had said: “She pleaded guilty, cooperated fully with the investigation and a plea deal has just been reached. That is why we would like to ask the judge to release her on bail, given her advanced pregnancy.” Bella was also heard asking her lawyer: “Will I be able to take the baby if I go back to jail?”
He told her: “No one is going to take your baby away from you.” It is not known whether she will serve her entire sentence in Tbilisi prison, or whether she could be released under house arrest or extradited to the United Kingdom to serve her sentence.
