British teenager being held in Georgia on drug charges

A British teenager is being held in prison in Georgia on suspicion of drug offences.

Bella Culley, 18, was believed to have gone missing in Thailand before she was detained 3,700 miles away in Tbilisi on Saturday.

Georgian authorities said Culley, from Billingham on Teesside, faces up to 20 years in prison or a life sentence over the charges.

She appeared in court in Tbilisi on Tuesday accused of illegally buying, possessing and importing large quantities of narcotics including marijuana.

The Foreign Office confirmed that it was “supporting the family of a British woman who is detained in Georgia”.

Cleveland police, on Teesside, confirmed an 18-year-old woman from Billingham had been arrested in Georgia on suspicion of drug offences and remained in custody.

Georgian police said officers had seized up to 12kg of marijuana and just over 2kg of hashish in a travel bag at Tbilisi international airport.

Ia Todua, a lawyer who has been appointed by the state to represent Culley, said the teenager was being held at an all-female pre-trial detention facility in the city of Rustavi.

She said the teenager arrived in Georgia from Thailand on Saturday and had been held in temporary detention until the hearing on Tuesday.

Other lawyers are said to have been in touch to represent Culley and the British consular service is understood to be offering assistance.

Todua said: “She was so clenched, she is a child, in my personal opinion.

“When she was explained the essence of the accusation she was worried to speak. When we asked her to testify at that moment she decided to choose silence.”

Culley’s family believed she had gone missing in Thailand before Georgian authorities announced her arrest this week.

It is thought she flew to the Philippines just after Easter and had been travelling with a friend around the islands before flying to Thailand on around 3 May.

Before the news of her arrest, Culley’s mother, Lyanne Kennedy, said she had not heard from her daughter since Saturday and her phone appeared to have been turned off.

Kennedy told Teesside Live: “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.”

Culley’s father had flown to Bangkok to search for his daughter, Kennedy said, adding: “I just want her home and safe or to hear her gorgeous little voice.”

The teenager had posted pictures of her travels on social media, sharing images from Boracay and Palawan islands in the Philippines last month.