An 18 year old British girl, Bella May Culley, is facing a potential life sentence in a “decaying and overcrowded” prison after being arrested on suspicion of smuggling 30 pounds of cannabis through an airport in a former Soviet nation.
Culley was apprehended at Tbilisi International Airport in Georgia, allegedly carrying the drug. Prior to this, she had been the focus of an extensive international search operation after being reported missing during what was believed to be a holiday in Thailand.
However, in a shocking turn of events last night, information about the young woman’s arrest came to light. This means that Culley could now spend twenty years or more in Georgia’s only female prison, Tbilisi Prison No.
5, situated 45 minutes from the former Soviet capital.
Images reveal the stark interior of the facility, which local reports describe as decaying. The media has also highlighted the cramped and unsanitary conditions within Tbilisi Prison No, reports the Mirror.
Cleveland Police, who had been aiding with the family’s missing person enquiry, provided an update last night: “Update on Billingham woman who was reported missing overseas. We have this afternoon had confirmation from the authorities in Georgia that an 18-year-old woman from Billingham has been arrested there on suspicion of drugs offences and that she remains in their custody.”
Shocking video footage has surfaced, showing Culley handcuffed as officers escort her into a Georgian police station. Reports from local media in the nation claim that Culley, originating from Billingham, County Durham, was caught at the airport with “34 hermetically sealed packages containing marijuana… as well as 20 packages of hashish”.
Culley’s family reportedly lost touch with her during her Thailand trip, which commenced around May 3. It’s understood that her backpacking adventure began in the Philippines shortly after Easter.
However, Culley’s recent arrest in Georgia now threatens to derail her ambitions of becoming a nurse. It is believed she had just completed a college course aimed at preparing her for the nursing field.
On its official site, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) clarifies that it cannot secure the release of British nationals from Georgian jails, nor can it ensure preferential treatment based on their nationality. The FCDO website hosts specific information regarding arrests in Georgia, noting that “prison conditions vary”.
The guidance further explains: “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.”
An incriminating report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) once condemned the “severely overcrowded” prison conditions, following calls alongside Amnesty International and Penal Reform International in 2006 for the Georgian government to cease mistreatment within its prisons.
The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (CPT) labelled the conditions at No 5 as “degrading, inhuman” and as such “an affront to a civilised society” that same year. Neil, Culley’s father from Billingham, reportedly flew to Bangkok in the extensive search for his teenage daughter when she disappeared.
