Bella Culley was freed from a secure prison in Tbilisi with her mum Lyanne Kennedy by her side, and has now given birth to a baby, she revealed on social media
British drugs mule Bella Culley has revealed she’s given birth after she was freed from prison in Georgia.
Ms Culley, 19, posted on her TikTok that she’d given birth to “my little 5lbs baba” on November 24. She was released from prison on November 3, and was finally reunited with her family later that week.
In her TikTok video, Ms Culley was seen cradling her newborn while sporting a proud smile. She narrated the video: “Life is too short to sit anywhere other than where you’re supposed to be.”
It mysteriously finished: “…and if you’re sitting at a table where you don’t feel like you’re being fed, even if you’re bringing a plate of food…”
The new mum was found guilty of smuggling drugs from Thailand into Georgia earlier this year. It was alleged that the 19-year-old, from Teesside, tried to smuggle 12 kilograms (26.4 pounds) of marijuana and two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of hashish into the country.
Prosecutors were considering a two-year sentence for the British pregnant teen, but instead “decided to consider the time she has already served”. She was eventually released after being sentenced to five months and 25 days behind bars – the exact amount of time she’d spent in custody.
Devoted mum Lyanne, 44, and dad Niel, 49, raised almost £140,000 to pay the court, after a plea bargain was struck with prosecutors which allowed her to return home to the UK. She was moved to a mother and baby prison unit after enduring a tough initial period in prison during her near-six months behind bars.
Speaking in Georgia when her daughter was freed, Lyanne said she was ‘so happy’ and suggested Bella should name her baby son after her lawyer Malkhaz Salakaia. Mr Salakhaia said Ms Culley showed visible physical signs of torture upon her arrival in Georgia.
Neighbours in Billingham, Co Durham, where Bella had been studying to become a nurse before heading to Thailand on holiday, told how ‘she didn’t even smoke, let alone take drugs’ before she was caught up in the international trade in cannabis.
She had initially gone missing while travelling in Thailand and her lawyer said Georgian police had launched a separate criminal investigation into her coercion allegations. It is believed that she fell pregnant early in her travels around Asia.
After her release, Ms Culley told reporters at the time she was “so happy”, and never expected to be freed.
