[Image: Facebook / Bella May Culley]
A “terrified” teenager who disappeared on a sun-soaked holiday in Thailand has somehow reappeared halfway across the globe – pregnant and in the dock for drug smuggling in a crumbling ex-Soviet prison. Try to out-script that!
Bella May Culley, 18, a nursing student from the UK with a social media feed dripping in designer swimsuits and beachy flexes, turned up in court this week. Not in Bangkok, but in Tbilisi, Georgia, of all places – that’s Georgia the country, not the peach-loving US state.
She’s allegedly been caught red-handed with a whopping 30 pounds of cannabis in her luggage at Tbilisi International Airport, according to the Daily Mail. Jeez, have today’s party favours become full-on distribution centres?
Oh, and in case it wasn’t dramatic enough: she told the court she’s pregnant. Her lawyer confirmed she’ll be cooling her heels in Georgian custody for the next two months while the investigation continues.
Her disappearance sparked an international panic, the kind that usually ends up on a Netflix docuseries. The last anyone heard from her was May 3. One minute she’s FaceTiming her mum, next thing you know, she’s on trial thousands of miles away in a place barely anyone can find on a map, per NY Post.
“She flew out to the Philippines after Easter with a friend and she was there for three weeks. She was posting loads of pictures and then she went to Thailand on about May 3,” her mother Lyanne Culley told Teesside Live.
“The last message she sent was to me and that was on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. saying she was going to Facetime me later. That was the last message anyone has received from what we can figure out up to now.”
Panicked, her father and sister boarded the next flight to Thailand to find her. But surprise, she was nowhere near the Full Moon Party. Bella had gone rogue.
Now she’s being held in Tbilisi Prison No. 5, the only women’s prison in Georgia, which, according to a 2006 Human Rights Watch report, is less “Orange Is the New Black” and more “Medieval Dungeon with Wi-Fi.” We’re talking overcrowded, degrading, inhumane, with bathrooms described as “decaying and filthy” and cells reeking of “sweat, human excrement, and cigarette smoke.” Not exactly the kind of vibe you post to Insta.
Her lawyer says she’s currently “terrified and confused.”
If convicted, Culley’s facing 15 to 20 years behind bars, and Georgian authorities aren’t exactly known for their leniency. Legal expert Jemal Janashia put it bluntly to dailymail.co.uk:
“The fact that she was detained by CrimPol’s Special Tasks Department suggests this wasn’t a random search, but a planned operation. And the quantity of drugs found on her makes it hard to remain optimistic.”
“It’s a grim situation — people have been sentenced to eight years or more for possessing 20 times less in the past decade,” he added. “Drug offenses are one of the key priorities for the Georgian police.”
Yeah, they’re not playing around.
Meanwhile, her socials paint a wildly different picture – one of private beach parties, scuba dives, and stacks of cash that would make a rapper blush. Not exactly the look of a humble nursing student scraping by.
She even compared herself to Bonnie and Clyde in a few videos, according to reports, which, in hindsight, might’ve been less of a vibe and more of a warning.
Her father, Niel Culley, is now on the ground in Georgia trying to help his daughter, according to her lawyer. In court, Bella has given no plea and no explanations.
“My client is currently exercising the right to remain silent, so we will provide detailed information later, once they decide how to proceed,” her lawyer told the local press.
One thing’s for sure: whatever comes next, it won’t be a return to island cocktails and TikTok filters.
[Source: NY Post]
