Pregnant British teenager Bella Culley, 19, is set to serve a two-year prison term in Georgia after accepting a plea deal with local authorities. Culley, who is 25 weeks pregnant, will be officially sentenced next Monday, November 3, for attempting to traffic drugs into the former Soviet state earlier this year. Her family, including mother Lyanne Kennedy, 44, a charity worker, and father Niel Culley, 49, an oil rig technician, successfully raised and paid 500,000 Georgian Lari, equivalent to approximately £138,000 to £140,000, to the court.

During a short hearing at Tbilisi City Court, Bella appeared taken aback by the terms of the agreement but was later seen grinning and gesturing towards her mother. She has already spent five months behind bars on remand. Her solicitor had previously indicated that the fine paid would influence the sentence duration, with the possibility of imprisonment being cancelled depending on the sum. However, her mother Lyanne revealed that the court had initially demanded a higher sum of 800,000 Georgian Lari (around £220,000 to £225,000) for Bella's immediate release, which the family could not fully raise despite negotiations where the court "did budge" on the amount.

Prosecutor Vakhtang Tsalugelashvili confirmed to the court that "The plea bargain has been reached. Our conditions have been met," specifying "two years of imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 Georgian Lari." Bella's solicitor, Malkhaz Salakaia, also confirmed the agreement and requested a final hearing for the verdict. Mr. Salakaia had also applied for Bella's release on bail ahead of the sentencing, citing her advanced pregnancy and full cooperation with the investigation. However, Judge Giorgi Gelashvili rejected the request, stating there were "no legal grounds" to alter her conditions, particularly after a doctor ruled her current conditions "satisfactory."

Bella, a student nurse from Billingham, Teesside, was apprehended in May at Tbilisi airport after authorities discovered a significant quantity of drugs in her luggage, reportedly 14kg of cannabis worth £200,000, though some reports cited 11kg of cannabis and over 400g of hashish. She claims she was coerced into smuggling the drugs by gangsters. She stated she was branded with a hot iron, shown a video of a man being decapitated, and threatened that her family would be harmed if she did not comply. "I didn't want to do this. I was forced by torture... All I wanted to do was to travel," she declared at a previous hearing in July. She also mentioned not knowing Georgia was a country when she arrived in Tbilisi.

A poignant moment during the hearing saw Bella, dressed in a grey sleeveless cardigan and a pink t-shirt, ask her lawyer, "Will I be able to take the baby with me if I go back to jail?" Her lawyer assured her, "Nobody is going to take the baby away from you." While it remains unclear if she will serve her entire sentence in a Tbilisi prison, there is a possibility she could be granted house arrest for the last month of her pregnancy, totaling ten months, or potentially be extradited to the UK to complete her sentence. Her time already served since May will be taken into account, meaning she has approximately 18 months left behind bars.

The incident highlights a growing concern regarding British gangs targeting and grooming backpackers in Thailand for drug smuggling. Following Thailand's recent legalization of cannabis, an illicit trade has emerged to smuggle it to other countries for high mark-ups. With schemes to post drugs to Britain being shut down by the National Crime Agency, gangs have reportedly reverted to using drug mules like Bella. Her lawyer, Mr. Salakaia, confirmed outside court that "Bella is fine, her pregnancy is going smoothly. She will be able to communicate with the baby once she gives birth."