Pregnant teen 'drug mule' appears in court with bump as dad blows her a kiss
Pregnant Brit 'drug mule' Bella May Culley appeared in court today sporting a visible baby bump – as her dad was spotted blowing her a kiss.
Bella, who was caught allegedly taking cannabis into the ex-Soviet state of Georgia, faces life in prison. The 19-year-old was asked by the judge what her position was to the charge and she used her right to remain silent. Her dad, Niel, was in the courtroom in capital Tbilisi where he blew her a kiss as his daughter left the short hearing. Bella's trial had been expected to start today but proceedings were postponed with the teen due in court again on 24 July.
The teen's dad told his daughter to "stay strong", the BBC reported. It comes after Bella sobbed when she appeared in a Tbilisi court room at a hearing earlier this month – claiming she had been 'forced by torture'.
'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,' she told Tbilisi City Court on July 1. '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.'
Bella's lawyer Malkaz Salakaia asked his client to show the court her arm with a scar – apparently caused by an iron in Thailand. The teenager – who was wearing a pink T-shirt– stood up showing the court her arm and cleared her tears before sitting down, looking at her family.
Mr Salakaia said his client was tortured with a hot iron on her right arm by a criminal group that gave her the drugs. Bella approached a policeman to seek help but he turned out to be part of the criminal group too, the lawyer told the court.
She was told she would be approached by some people in Tbilisi airport, but this did not happen as she was taken by the customs officer already, the lawyer said. The Brit went missing in Thailand before turning up in Georgia in May, accused of taking in about 14kg of cannabis and hashish into the country.
The prosecutor, Davit Mestvirishvili, said evidence consisted of the illegal drugs, as well as footage from Ms Culley's phone and iPad. In May Bella, Bella, from Billingham, Teesside, told a court she was pregnant.
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