A British teenager being held in a Georgian prison held out her scarred wrists in court as she claimed she was tortured until she agreed to smuggle drugs.
Bella Culley, 19, broke down in tears at Tbilisi City Court,as she pleaded not guilty to charges of possession and trafficking illegal drugs.
The student nurse, from Billingham, County Durham, went missing in Thailand before she was arrested 3,7000 miles away at Tbilisi International Airport on May 10 for allegedly smuggling a large amount of illegal drugs in her suitcase.
Her lawyer, Mr Malkhaz Salakaia, said Bella had been threatened with a hot iron to force her into trafficking 12kg of marijuana and 2kg of hashish.
Bella, who is 18 weeks pregnant, showed her scarred wrist to the court, telling the judge: ‘I did not want to do this. I was forced to do this through torture.
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‘I just wanted to travel. I am a good person. I am a student at university. I am a clean person. I don’t do drugs.’
Mr Salakia said the teenager was not aware of what was in her luggage and she had allegedly tried to approach a policeman for help but he was part of the criminal group too.
He said: ‘She was instructed to fly to Georgia – she did not even know where Georgia was located geographically.’
He claimed his client was told she would be met by people in Tbilisi airport but she was instead intercepted by a customs officer.
Her father, aunt and grandfather were all in attendance at the pre-trial hearing. As she left in tears, her family told her: ‘Try not to worry. Good girl.’
Bella has been held at a Georgian prison for 52 days and has been refused bail. Judge Lela Kalichenko remanded her in custody until the next court hearing on July 10. She faces a life sentence – at least 15 years – in the Georgian capital’s infamous Prison No.5.
A 2006 Human Rights Watch report found the former Soviet prison was ‘severely overcrowded’, while the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment called conditions there ‘an affront to a civilised society’.
A FCDO spokesperson told Metro: ‘We are supporting a British woman who is detained in Georgia and are in contact with her family and the local authorities.’
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