'Drug smuggling' Brit teen sobs in court claiming she was ‘tortured and forced'
A British teen accused of smuggling a massive cannabis haul into Georgia broke down in tears in court on Monday, June 30, claiming she had been "forced by torture".
Bella Culley, 19, sobbed as she appeared before a judge in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, facing a potential life behind bars after she was arrested for allegedly taking 14kg of cannabis and hashish into the ex-Soviet state.
The nursing student, wept through the hearing, with a lawyer handing her a napkin for her tears, reports the Mirror.
She told the court: 'I didn't want to do this. I was forced by torture. I just wanted to travel. I study at the university… to become a nurse. All I wanted to do was to travel and this happened to me. I'm clean - I had nothing in my blood test. I wanted to make my family proud. Thanks for listening.'
Her dad, Neil, and aunt were present. Bella's lawyer Malkaz Salakaia, claimed she had been burned with a hot iron in Thailand before being sent to Georgia by a criminal gang.
He asked her to show the court the bruising on her right hand, which she did, before sitting down and glancing tearfully at her family.
Mr Salakaia told the court Bella approached a policeman to seek help but he turned out to be part of the criminal group too, the lawyer told the court.
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Bella vanished while travelling in Thailand earler this year, before she turned up in Georgia in May, where she was arrested at customs. Her lawyer said there was no risk of her leaving the country, asking for bail but was denied.
The judge Lela Kalichenko told the court that Bella, from Bellingham on Teeside, is pregnant and had not committed any crimes previously. She seems young and that her family support her, the judge said.
Bella says she was forced to take the case and did not know what was inside, the judge added. Bella left the court crying and was told by her family: 'Try not to worry. Good girl.' She is due to appear in court again on 10 July.
Her newly-appointed lawyer Mr Sala kaia previously said in May: 'We will defend her innocence at the court.'
At a meeting in May, her lawyer Mr Salakaia reportedly said he had to explain to Bella where she was geographically. He said Bella was in "good health" – but would not describe her as an adequate adult, the BBC reported.
Their first meeting was said to have lasted two hours. The lawyer said his client was ready to defend herself in court.
Mr Salakaia said Bella does not have any complaints about the location of detention. Asked whether he would describe Bella as an adequate adult, he answered "no".
His impression was that she was "not far from childhood". During the meeting, Bella was reportedly also giving evidence to investigators.
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