By Hannah Ahmed Maradia Tsaava In Georgia Simon Murphy
Georgia May Culley sobbed as she pleaded with court, claiming she was “forced by torture” to allegedly smuggle drugs into Georgia. The 19-year-old is facing life in prison, after she was arrested for allegedly attempting to run contraband into the country earlier this year. She broke down in tears in the courtroom in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Tuesday, July 1, while speaking to the court about her charges. Ms Culley said: “I didn’t want to do this. I was forced by torture. I just wanted to travel. I study at the university… to become a nurse. All I wanted to do was to travel and this happened to me. READ MORE: Gran left ‘disfigured and unrecognisable’ after falling asleep in garden “I’m clean – I had nothing in my blood test. I wanted to make my family proud. Thanks for listening,” the Mirror reported. The student’s father, Neil, and her aunt were present for the trial, as the young woman’s defence lawyer, Malkaz Salakaia, spoke about how his client had expected to receive correspondence from specific individuals at Tbilisi airport. This never occurred though, as the 19-year-old was detained by customs officers. Mr Salakaia urged Ms Culley to present her hand to the court, with a bruise on it, allegedly caused by an iron in Thailand. The defendant stood up, showed the court her right hand and wiped her face of tears before resuming her seat and taking a look at her family. Mr Salakaia claimed she had been tortured with a hot iron on her right hand, alleging that Ms Culley had approached a policeman at the time, to seek help, but it resulted that he was a part of the criminal ring too, the lawyer said. The Brit went missing in Thailand before turning up in Georgia in May, accused of taking in about 14kg of cannabis and hashish into the country. Her lawyer said there was no risk of her leaving the country, and asked for bail, which was denied. The judge, Lela Kalichenko, told the court that Bella, from Bellingham on Teeside, is pregnant and had not committed any crime before. She added Ms Culley seemed young, with a family that supports her, the judge said. Ms Culley said she was forced to take the case and did not know what was inside, the judge added. READ MORE: Hit-and-run probe after man struck by car in Birmingham city centre Ms Culley left the court crying 鈥 and was told by her family: 鈥淭ry not to worry. Good girl.鈥 She is due to appear in court again on 10 July. The 19-year-old’s lawyer, Mr Salakaia, previously said in May: 鈥淲e will defend her innocence at the court, and it has been reported he said he had to explain to Bella where she was geographically. It was also said Ms Culley was in “good health” by her lawyer 鈥 but would not describe her as an adequate adult, the BBC reported. It is alleged the meeting between Mr Salakaia and Ms Culley lasted around two hours, with the attorney explaining his client was prepared to defend herself in court. When asked whether the lawyer would describe Ms Culley as an adequate adult, he answered “no,” with his impression of the student that she was “not far from childhood”. During the meeting, Ms Culley was reportedly also giving evidence to investigators.