Pregnant British ‘drugs mule’ Bella Culley was seen with her baby bump as she walked free from a Georgian prison after prosecutors showed her mercy.
The 19-year-old was due to be sentenced to two years in jail for drug smuggling charges, but it was cut at the 11th hour due to her age, good behaviour and the fact she is expecting a child.
She was arrested in May at Tbilisi airport and accused of attempting to smuggle 12kg of marijuana and 2kg of hashish into Georgia.
Culley’s mother, Lyanne Kennedy, 44, broke into tears of joy outside Tbilisi City Court, telling reporters: ‘I am so happy – so happy. I know I don’t look like it, but I am so happy. We will need to get her passport and then we leave. Either today or tomorrow.’
After her release, Culley excitedly phoned up her father and told him: ‘I’m not in jail any more.’
Niel Culley, who raised the £140,000 to free her, was heard replying: ‘Wahey, that is brilliant’ as mother Lyanne Kennedy walked alongside her daughter holding her hand.
Bella looked visibly pregnant wearing purple tracksuits and a beige jacket, and her father asked what her plans were now she is out.
Bella responded: ‘We’re just walking down so we will phone you when we get back to the hotel. Love you, Dad, bye.’
She looked visibly overwhelmed as reporters gathered outside the court, before ushering her lawyer, Malkhaz Salakaia to answer questions on her behalf.
Moments earlier, Judge Giorgi Gelashvili accepted a plea bargain, meaning Culley could walk free and return to the UK.
Culley erupted into ecstatic cries and laughter on being told of the new proposal by the prosecution moments before the hearing.
She was then seen beaming as she signed the paperwork with her mother, laughing excitedly.
Culley, her mother, Lyanne, and her lawyer, Malkhlaz Salakaia, seen laughing following her release. In May, Culley was arrested at Tbilisi airport and accused of attempting to smuggle 12kg of marijuana and 2kg of hashish into Georgia
Bella Culley broke into excited cries and laughter as she was told about the dramatic U-turn
Culley and her mum seen in an emotional embrace as they enter a vehicle to leave the court premises
Culley was due to be sentenced to two years in jail for drug smuggling charges, but it was cut at the 11th hour
Lyanne, a charity worker, and Culley’s father, Niel Culley, 49, had been forced to pay a staggering £140,000 fine to reduce the sentence last week.
The plea deal should still have seen the teenager serve two years in jail with six months reduced for time already served after she was found entering the country with £200,000 worth of cannabis in May.
But arriving at court in the Black Sea nation’s capital this morning, Malkhaz Salakaia, defending, said there had been a last minute reprieve.
‘She is being released, she walks free,’ he said. ‘She doesn’t know yet.
‘I got the information literally 15 minutes ago and informed her mum, who has just about stopped crying.’
Prosecutor Vakhtang Tsalugelashvili said: ‘It was our initiative – we took into consideration her age, her condition and her good behaviour, and that she fully cooperated.’
Mr Tsalugelashvili said in court: ‘The plea bargain has been concluded, now we would like to refer to the judge.
‘We ask the judge to find Bella Culley guilty of 242a of the Georgian criminal code and be sentenced to five months and 25 days in prison with an additional fine of 500,000GEL.
‘The confiscated drugs will be destroyed, including her bag, while other personal belongings will be returned to her.’
Judge Giorgi Gelashvili asked: ‘So that means the requested time of arrest is already out?’ Mr Tsalugelashvili said: ‘Yes, we would like her to be released today.’
Malkhaz Salakaia, defending, said: ‘We do hope that the judge agrees with the prosecution, and she will be released today and will become a mother in calmer, more stable conditions.’
Culley was seen in a grey top nodding in agreement as Judge Gelashvili told her she would have no mitigating circumstances if caught repeating the offences.
Asked if she had any complaints about her time in prison, the teenager said she had none.
Mr Gelashvili said: ‘The court concludes that the plea bargain between the prosecution, represented by Prosecutor Vakhtang Tsalugelashvili, and defence represented by Bella Culley and Malkhaz Salakaia has been reached and is deemed satisfactory by the court.
‘The sentence is five months and 24 days and an additional fine of 500,000 Georgian lari. The arrest will be rescinded as the time spent in preliminary detention will be taken into account.’
Culley’s mother, Lyanne, has indicated that arrangements are being made to get her back to the UK
Culley and her lawyer Malkhaz Salakaia were all smiles after she was released from prison
Bella Culley was seen speaking to journalists after her release from prison today
Culley seen during one of her appearances in court after she was arrested. Sentences for drug smuggling in the country can carry up to life in prison
Culley claimed she was forced to peddle drugs from Thailand to Georgia
Culley and her mother hugged in court after the sentence was read out. The teenager then said: ‘I didn’t expect this at all. This is a huge surprise.’
Culley is due to give birth before Christmas after becoming pregnant while travelling South East Asia with a man she said was not involved in drug smuggling.
The teenager did not even know Georgia was a country when she was arrested, touching down in the capital, Tbilisi, in May.
She has insisted that a British gang threatened to kill her family if she didn’t do as they told her before being found with £200,000 worth of cannabis in her luggage.
Culley claims she was forced to peddle the drugs from Thailand to Georgia, claiming she was burned with a hot iron and shown a beheading video by a Thai gang.
She then claims she flew to Tbilisi – thinking that was the name of a country – not knowing she had 14kg of illegal cargo hidden in her bags.
It follows a huge surge in backpackers being targeted and groomed by British gangs who have flocked to Thailand.
The country recently legalised cannabis, meaning there is a massive illicit trade in smuggling it to Britain for huge mark ups.
After the National Crime Agency shut down a scheme to post it to Britain, they have reverted to grooming drug mules.