British teenage 'drug mule' hates the food in Georgian 'hell-hole' jail and wants to come home, lawyer says
A teenager accused of smuggling drugs 'hates' the food in prison in Georgia and just wants to come home, her lawyer has said.
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British teen Bella May Culley vanished in Thailand before turning up in Georgia where she faces life in jail after allegedly importing cannabis.
She is reportedly 'getting along well' with her two other cellmates in the all-female jail in Georgia.
Bella May Culley, 18, was arrested on suspicion of smuggling 30 pounds of cannabis, and is charged with illegally buying, possessing and importing a large quantity of drugs.
The teen, from Billingham on Teesside, has requested fruit after expressing her dislike for the prison food.
Mariam Kublashvili - a celebrity lawyer who formerly represented speedboat killer Jack Shepherd - said she has visited Bella in Prison, describing the teen as "very open" and "charming", The Mirror reported.
Bella's father has said he will stay in Georgia to be by her side for "as long as it takes".
Niel Culley, 49, told the Mail: "I can’t say anything but I will be here for as long as it takes. I obviously have no experience in dealing with situations like this, and it’s very difficult."
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Mr Culley, who lives in Vietnam and works in oil, is with his sister Kerrie Culley in the Georgian capital in support of Bella.
Miss Culley could now face two decades or more behind bars in the country's only female prison, Tbilisi Prison No.5, located 45 minutes away from the ex-Soviet capital.
Local media shared footage of her being led in handcuffs into a police station.She is alleged to have '34 hermetically sealed packages containing marijuana... as well as 20 packages of hashish' in her possession at the airport.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) states it cannot get Brits out of jail in Georgia or help anyone get special treatment because they are British.
Its website has a page specifically about arrests in the nation, in which it states "prison conditions vary".
It states: "It is usual in Georgia for cells/dormitories to be shared. There is no set maximum number of occupants, rather it depends on the type of facility, size of the room, etc."
Before police confirmed the arrest, her mother Lyanne told Teesside Live: “She flew out to the Philippines after Easter with a friend and she was there for three weeks."
She continued: “She was posting loads of pictures and then she went to Thailand on about May 3.
“The last message she sent was to me and that was on Saturday at 5.30pm 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.
“I’m just waiting on her dad who is now in Bangkok to get back with any more information. I just want her home and safe or to hear her gorgeous little voice.”