Mystery over man Bella May Culley met before being arrested in Georgia

The family of a British teenager arrested in Georgia for alleged drug smuggling has revealed she spent time with a mystery man called ‘Russ’.

Bella Culley, 18, was arrested on suspicion of smuggling 14 kilos of cannabis into the country days after being reported missing in Thailand.

Bella, from Billingham, County Durham, told a Tbilisi court on Wednesday she is pregnant.

The student nurse faces a life sentence – at least 15 years – in a former Soviet prison.

Her grandad revealed that Bella was meeting a man she ‘used to go out with’ during her dream holiday in Southeast Asia.

William Culley, 80, said: ‘She went to the Philippines to see somebody, a lad there, who she used to go out with a couple of years ago, who was working out there.

‘She said, “I’m going on my own, but I’m meeting Ross out there.” Or Russ, I’m not sure what his name is.

‘He was working out there for his father’s company or something – but now I wonder if what she told me was true.’ 

Bella’s social media did show her in the company of an unknown man, though he was never clearly photographed or filmed.

He added: ‘Last night they were told they could see her in the morning.

‘They said they’d ring me straight after they had seen her, but I haven’t had a call. They must still be waiting.

‘It’s just really important that they get to see her as soon as possible. The poor bairn must be at her wits’ end. Especially if we can’t see her.

‘Everything should be done to make that happen.’

Bella was arrested at Tbilisi International Airport earlier this week for allegedly entering the country with 34 bags of marijuana hidden in her luggage.

Her father, Neil Culley, and her aunt flew to Bangkok over the weekend only to discover she was in Georgia some 4,000 miles away.

Bella’s lawyer recently told The Sun that Culley appeared ‘visibly shaken’ when told she may spend 20 years behind bars.

La Touda said: ‘My impression was that she ended up in Georgia without even knowing what she was doing.’

Bella’s cousin, Claire Taylorson, said that a fake GoFundMe claiming to be raising money for the family has been set up.

Inside ‘degrading’ Prison No 5 where Bella May Culley could spend the rest of her life

Bella faces the prospect of calling Tbilisi Prison No.5 her new home.

It is the country’s only female prison, a harsh unit in a state of decay, where prisoners have complained about ‘degrading’ treatment.

Pictures from inside the prison show tiny single bunk beds packed into rooms with a beige interior.

Other pictures show long tables in an artificially lit dining room where prisoners sit down to eat.

The Georgian Public Ombudsman revealed in a 2015 report that when new prisoners enter the prison, they are ‘inspected naked and are requested to squat’, something inmates ‘consider degrading treatment’.

The report said: ‘According to inmates, this procedure is especially humiliating and intensive during an inmate’s menstrual cycle.

‘In some cases, because of the nature of such procedures, inmates refuse services offered outside of the facility or choose to miss court hearings.’

According to the report, running water is cold, unsuitable for drinking and in bathrooms, there are single floor drains which cause dirty water to pool on the floor.

Prisoners stand on concrete when showering, which is separated by rusting metal walls and opposite one another, so they lack privacy.

She said on Facebook: ‘Bella’s family do not want any campaigns such as Go Fund Me, and have certainly not asked for any financial help in this form.

‘Please respect the family and the difficulties that they are facing.

‘No parents ever want to find themselves in this situation, and they are going through the worst time of their lives right now and are at the start of an extremely difficult journey.

‘Speculation and rumours are making it harder to navigate through this nightmare.’

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