Jess Battison
A British teen is currently facing life inside a ‘decaying’ prison.
Bella May Culley’s family made an appeal as they said the 18-year-old was missing earlier this week when they hadn’t heard from her for four days.
However, this led to the revelation that the teen who had been travelling in Thailand had been detained in Georgia.
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Officials arrested Bella on suspicion of drug offences after allegedly finding items in her luggage. Originally from Billingham, County Durham, the young woman was charged with 'illegally purchasing and storing a particularly large number of narcotics, illegally purchasing and storing the narcotic drug marijuana, and illegally importing it' into Eastern Europe.
After telling a court she is ‘pregnant’, Bella’s lawyer says she may face months in jail awaiting trial as her alleged crimes carry up to 20 years or life imprisonment in a brutal prison.
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A statement from the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs revealed: “Law enforcement officers, as a result of defendant's luggage inspection at Tbilisi International Airport, seized a particularly large amount of the narcotic drug ‘marijuana’, up to 12 kilograms and 2.068 kg of the narcotic drug ‘hashish’ as evidence.”
And as a result of these allegations, Culley could face time in Georgia’s only female prison, Tbilisi Prison No.5.
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A 2015 report from the Ombudsman found that ‘hygiene and sanitation standards are violated significantly in the bathrooms’, with some inmates refusing to use the one washing machine in each building as they consider it ‘unhygienic’.
It also added: “The cell for life sentences is damp and the convicts ask to be re-housed in normal conditions. There is no bathroom, although the two prisoners have a shower in their cell.”
The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (CPT) previously found the prison to be in a 'state of disrepair'.
Cells reportedly smelt of ‘human sweat, human excrement, and cigarette smoke’, with litter on the ground outside cells.
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It described the place to have crumbling walls and floors, with inmates sleeping on 'two-tier metal bunk beds’ and using 'decaying and filthy’ bathrooms.
A 2023 report from the ombudsman said while cleanliness was commended, ‘challenges remain in ensuring adequate artificial ventilation and continuous water supply’.
It also said that regarding medical services, ‘patients had to wait more than a month to see a specialist’.
Previous images from inside Tbilisi Prison No.5 show small pairs of bunk beds alongside each other in rooms.
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) told LADbible Group: “We are supporting the family of a British woman who is detained in Georgia and are in contact with the local authorities.”