Bella Culley, a pregnant British teenager held in Georgia over drug smuggling charges, has been freed.
The 19-year-old, from Billingham in Teesside, was awaiting sentencing after she was accused of smuggling 12kg (26lb) of marijuana and 2kg (4.4lb) of hashish in her hold luggage at Tbilisi international airport in May.
She had been held in the former Soviet prison for over five months, and said she had been forced to boil pasta in a kettle to eat and dig a hole in the ground to use the toilet. She is 35 weeks pregnant and was transferred to a mother and baby unit over the weekend, but has now been freed.
Footage from outside the court shows the teenager appearing shocked, overwhelmed and grateful as she left the building with her lawyer.
Speaking to media upon her release, Ms Culley said: “I’m feeling relieved.” She said she had not expected to be freed and felt happy upon hearing the news. Asked about the conditions in prison, she looked to her mother, Lyanne Kennedy, who shook her head and said: “Bella, no”.
Ms Culley then asked: “Can we go now?” and left the premises.
Shortly before her final hearing, Ms Culley’s lawyer said a plea bargain had been reached at the last minute. Learning of the news, Ms Culley was seen giving her lawyer, Malkhaz Salakaia, a hug.
Last week, her family made a payment of £137,000 to reduce her sentence after reaching a plea bargain with prosecutors at Tbilisi City Court. She had faced up to 20 years in prison when she was first arrested.
Ms Culley had initially pleaded not guilty at a hearing in July to possession and trafficking illegal drugs, and said she had been tortured into transporting them by a gang.
She is due to give birth before Christmas and became pregnant while travelling in Southeast Asia. She had been reported missing in Thailand and was arrested shortly after in Georgia.
Ms Culley told the Tbilisi court: “I did not want to do this. I was forced to do this through torture. I just wanted to travel. I am a good person. I am a student at university. I am a clean person. I don’t do drugs.”
Her lawyer told the court at a pre-trial hearing that she had been threatened with a hot iron to travel with the suitcase filled with drugs. The teenager stood in front of the judge in the courtroom and showed her scarred right wrist.
