‘Drug mule’ Bella Culley’s lawyer accuses British embassy of ‘not doing’ enough to help pregnant teen

Bella Cully, 19, faces life behind bars or 20 years in prison after being arrested earlier this year for allegedly taking cannabis into Georgia.

Malakhaz Salakaia, her lawyer, says she has not had a visit from the British embassy since her family hired a legal representative, adding that it had not provided any written references.

The lawyer said he was "dissatisfied" with the British authorities as he blasted them for not providing enough support to his client.

The Foreign Office says it is in conversations with the teen's family but has confirmed only one in-person visit had been made to the Georgia jail - on May 16.

Cully remains detained while prosecution and defence lawyers negotiate whether a deal can be made for her release.

Read more: British 'drug mule' Bella Culley could be freed from Georgian jail - if family pay huge fine

Read more: Brit 'drug mule' Bella Culley 'branded with hot iron and forced into trafficking', lawyer says

She has been told a "substantial" sum of money is needed to either reduce her sentence or free her entirely.

The 19-year-old is understood to be five months pregnant, and Mr Salakaia accused the embassy of not checking in on her health.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: "We are supporting a British woman who is detained in Georgia and are in contact with her family and the local authorities."

At a hearing in July, Cully said she was ‘forced by torture’ into smuggling drugs.

“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.

"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,” she told the court.

Mr Salakaia told the court she had been threatened with a hot iron to force her into travelling with the suitcase filled with drugs.

The teenager was reported missing in Thailand by her family, before she was found in Georgia, accused of taking in about 14kg of cannabis and hashish.

Culley, from Bellingham on Teeside, had not committed any crime before, the court heard.