A British teenager being held in a Georgian prison, accused of smuggling 14kg of cannabis into the country, has complained she is not getting the medical care for her pregnancy.
Bella May Culley, 18, from Billingham, County Durham, reportedly told a court in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi last week that she was pregnant.
The teenager is facing life imprisonment, which is 20 years, after she was arrested on suspicion of carrying dozens of bags of the drugs into the country. Ms Culley had been travelling in Asia, but had not been heard from since 10 May.
Speaking to her new lawyer, Mariam Kublashvili, she reportedly said she was not getting the medical care she required.
Ms Kublashvili told The Sun: “Bella is pregnant and needs medical care which she complained she wasn’t getting.
“She asked me for tuna fish which I thought was odd and might have been something to do with pregnancy cravings – but I found out later fish cannot be sent in.
“She told me no tests, checks or medical examinations have been done.
“She said she asked for a doctor, but the doctor wasn’t speaking English and they couldn’t understand each other.”
Ms Kublashvili added: “She doesn’t fit the profile of a drug trafficker at all. For anyone, like me, with experience in dealing with such cases, it would be quite obvious that she is a victim here – she’s been used and manipulated.”
A British Foreign Office spokesperson confirmed that Ms Culley had been detained in Georgia and that they were supporting the teenager’s family.
Her family first launched an appeal for the missing teenager last Tuesday morning. Her father, Niel Culley and aunt flew out to Bangkok over the weekend to find out more about Ms Culley’s whereabouts, only to discover that she was in Georgia.
The father said he would stay “as long as it takes” to end her ordeal.
