Brit 'drug mule' Bella Culley 'branded with hot iron and forced into trafficking', lawyer says
2 July 2025, 16:31
A British teen "drug mule" caught trafficking drugs to Georgia from Thailand was had a hot iron pressed on her arm and was subject to psychological and physical pressure by criminal gangs, her lawyer has said.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
The 19-year-old faces life behind bars after being arrested earlier this year for allegedly taking cannabis into Georgia.
Her lawyer Malkhaz Salakaia said she was "forced" to do this, arguing there is physical evidence of torture left behind on her body.
He said: “Bella was forced.
“On the inside of her right arm, there is a mark from this coercion. She was, so to say, branded — a hot iron was pressed on her arm.
Read more: Brit teen 'drug mule' Bella Culley cries in court saying she was ‘forced by torture’
"She was forced to do this — there was both psychological and physical pressure, the trace of which is still visible.
“As to what connection she did have with this group, she knew several of them — they are British.
"At first, she knew one, and then through him met the others. However, we have grounds to assume that this group also had local accomplices, including in Thailand,” he told The Times.
Culley appeared at a Tbilisi court on Tuesday where she cried as she told the court she did not want to carry 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 said.
Salakaia, a high profile lawyer, claimed Culley had not checked in the bag containing the drugs.
She was allegedly handed a passport and ordered to take the flight to Georgia via Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.
“They told her, ‘you will now depart for Tbilisi.
“She does not have the luggage with her. On the way to the airport, she is transferred to another vehicle. In Bangkok, at the airport, another unfamiliar person meets her, hands her the passport, and they themselves bring the suitcase.
“Then Bella goes to passport control and says, ‘This is not my luggage’. There too, they pay no attention.”
Culley, from Bellingham on Teeside, is pregnant and had not committed any crime before, the court heard.
Her father, aunt and grandfather were all in attendance at the small courtroom in Tbilisi.M
Culley left the court crying, and was told by her family: “Try not to worry. Good girl.”
She is due to appear in court again on July 10.
