Teen Brit ‘smuggler’ held in Georgia after vanishing on Thai hols ‘says she’s pregnant’ as her worried dad shares fears

THE Brit teen arrested for smuggling 30lb of marijuana into Georgia has told the court she is pregnant.

Bella May Culley, 18, from County Durham, disappeared while travelling in south-east Asia and reappeared in handcuffs in Tbilisi.

She appeared in court today after she was detained at the city’s airport on suspicion of hiding 34 bags of cannabis in her luggage.

The aspiring nurse could face 20 years in a former Soviet prison or even a life sentence, the country's Interior Ministry said.

Her baffled dad Neil Culley, who lives in Vietnam where he works off-shore, is flying to Eastern Europe to be by his daughter’s side in Georgia today.

A loved-one said: “She is just a student - she doesn’t really go out or do anything like that. She just wanted a break so took herself to Thailand.

Read more about Bella here

“She must have become mixed up with someone. She must have met someone who has taken advantage of her.”

Bella went travelling with a friend to the Philippines last month and then decided to take a spontaneous trip to Thailand on May 3.

Her family raised the alarm during her holiday after she failed to contact anyone since Saturday, despite usually flooding her family with texts, sparking a huge international search operation.

They had no idea that she had even left Thailand and were shocked to learn of her arrest in a different continent.

They were shocked to learn that she was trying to enter Georgia and was arrested on drugs charges.

Appearing in court, the Brit did not answer the judge's questions regarding drugs allegations, said Rustavi TV channel.

Major Georgian TV outlet Rustavi 2 in a text report said that Bella May Culley had told the Tbilisi court that she was “pregnant”.

The judge remanded her in custody.

Meanwhile, mystery surrounded a string of company directorships Bella appeared to hold, despite being described as a "normal student" and family and friends having no idea about them.

Records showed apparent links to the Far East - with Bella listed as the director of at least two companies with Chinese ties.

She is also listed as the boss of a firm called Lujamen Limited, whose activity is described as "agents specialised in the sale of other particular products".

She was appointed on September 11 last year on the same day previous director Lu Jiamen, 30, from the Guangdong province of China stepped down.

Another listing shows Bella was registered as director of Sunrain Limited - described as “retail sale via mail order houses or via internet”.

She was appointed in April last year - on the same day Chinese director Yuqing ZHANG, 34, also from the Guangdong province, resigned.

Records also showed the nursing student was registered as the sole director of a window repair and carpentry business in Billingham, Teesside, in March.

Her Georgian lawyer told reporters today: "My client is currently exercising the right to remain silent, so we will provide detailed information later, once they decide how to proceed. 

Culley’s lawyer said: “The person under my protection is currently exercising the right to silence and, accordingly, I will provide all the detailed information later, when she decides to provide detailed information to the investigative bodies regarding the charges brought against her.”

Bella could face decades behind bars in Georgia’s only female prison, Tbilisi Prison number 5.

The prison has been previously criticised for being “degrading”, “inhuman” and “an affront to a civilised society” by a European committee.

Bella recently completed an access course at Middlesbrough College and hopes to become a nurse - but first wanted to go travelling.

Before her reappearance in Georgia, Bella's mum Lyanne Kennedy, 44, told The Sun: "Her dad lives in Vietnam, so she's always wanted to see Asia.

“She loves all the touristy stuff, like releasing turtles."

Bella flew out to the Philippines with a friend - and Thailand wasn't even on the agenda to begin with.

But when her pal went to Ibiza, she decided to head in a different direction because "she doesn't drink that much and isn't really into the party lifestyle".

Instead, Bella travelled on to Thailand around May 3.

Lyanne said: "I really didn't want her to go to Thailand.

“I begged her to come home.  

“I don’t trust some of the boys over there.

“But she wanted to meet up with some friends she made over there on a previous trip.

“I don't know who any of them are."