Pregnant drugs mule suspect Bella Culley’s distraught mother was seen visiting her daughter in Georgian prison today as lawyers say she may have to find £100,000 to free her.
Lyanne Kennedy, 44, was seen with tears in her eyes after spending over two hours with her 19-year-old in Women’s Penitentiary Number Five.
She was spotted making animated gestures as she walked out of the gates beside the Teesside teenager’s grandfather, William Culley, 82.
The family are desperately rushing to find a vast sum to free Bella who was caught landing in the Black Sea nation’s capital, Tbilisi, with £200,000 worth of cannabis in her luggage in May.
The teenager strenuously denies being a drugs mule and claims a British gang in Thailand burnt her with an iron, showed her beheading videos and threatened to kill her family if she did not do as they said.
Yesterday in a dramatic development the judge adjourned her trial at the last minute as the defence and prosecution are close to reaching a plea deal to free her.
The prosecution will allow her to walk free if she pays a significant fine – which lawyers who specialise in freeing foreigners locked up in Georgia say could total £100,000.
Professor Anna Putkaradze, a Georgian lawyer specialising in high-profile cases involving foreigners facing problems with the Georgian judiciary, said the sum is usually half the street value of the illicit items they are caught with.
If authorities believe the UK was the final destination that means it would be half the £200,000 British street value.
Bella Culley’s distraught mother Lyanne Kennedy was today seen leaving a Georgian prison alongside Bella’s grandfather William Culley
Bella’s family’s visit to Women’s Penitentiary Number Five in Tbilisi today comes as lawyers say they may have to find £100,000 to free her
Bella seen in court in Tbilisi after she was detained at the city’s airport in May
Professor Putkaradze said: ‘If the prosecution is calculating the fine based on the estimated street value of the heavy drugs in Britain, rather than in Georgia, I would estimate it at around £100,000.
‘The law does not literally say ‘exactly half’, but according to the Customs Code and the practice of the Revenue Service, when contraband goods (such as gold) are discovered, the fine is usually set at roughly 50 per cent of the customs value of the goods, as a kind of compromise measure.’
Lyanne has been left in an agonising position by the latest development, as she must either find an eye-watering amount of money or face seeing her first grandchild born in a foreign jail cell.
She said after the case yesterday: ‘It’s a lot of money for us. They offered us a layered approach: this and this much to let her go immediately, and then another [lower] offer where she serves some amount.
‘I don’t know what to do.’
Lyanne does not own a home in the UK while Bella’s father Niel Culley, 49, lives in Vietnam meaning they are likely unable to remortgage or sell a property to raise the required funds.
Professor Putkaradze said: ‘Since the defendant is a British citizen and the family’s economic income is in pounds sterling, it would be logical for the fine to be calculated based on their sterling income.
‘If we analyse precedent and look at comparable cases, the fine is generally assessed according to the potential monetary gain the offender would have received from trafficking the drugs in question – and here once again, final destination plays a crucial part.
The 19-year-old was detained at Tbilisi Airport in Georgia on suspicion of carrying 31lbs of cannabis
Bella’s mother Lyanne seen outside court yesterday
Bella’s aunt Kerry and grandfather seen outside Tbilisi City Court on Tuesday
Bella’s family members walking into court in Tbilisi on Tuesday. The Teesside teenager’s trial was due to start today but was adjourned at the last minute
Bella Culley’s mother pictured on July 25 outside Tbilisi City Court
‘Was it Georgia or Britain? Regardless, given that this is an especially grave category of crime, carrying a sentence of either very lengthy or even life imprisonment, setting the fine at approximately half the estimated value could be considered an adequate punishment.’
She told the Mail said there will be ‘many nuances in play’ to decide the fine including the severity of the offence which carries a minimum sentence of around 15 years up to life.
She said: ‘Even when mitigating circumstances exist — such as cooperation with investigators, pregnancy, no prior convictions, being a first-time offender, and no resulting harm — the very nature of the offence imposes a binding constraint on the state, leaving little room for maneuver.’
Professor Putkaradze said it means they are unlikely to go down to a fifth of the total amount – £40,000 – which is the lowest they generally agree to.
Bella’s lawyer Malkhaz Salakaia told journalists yesterday that if her family ‘is ready to pay the sum that the state is demanding she can go straight to the airport.’
The family have not revealed the amount the court is asking for.
The teenager claims she was forced to peddle the drugs from Thailand to Georgia, claiming she was burned with a hot iron and shown a beheading video by a Thai gang.
She then claims she flew to Tbilisi with 14kg of illegal cargo hidden in her bags.
Yesterday she entered court wearing a black t-shirt with her hair in a bun and appeared calm, occasionally shooting her mother a warm smile.
CCTV footage shows the Brit going through the automated gates at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand
The British 19-year-old claimed she was violently coerced into trafficking the narcotics
The alleged drug-filled suitcase of Culley
Bella’s father Niel Culley and his sister Kerrie Culley (Bella’s aunt) in Tbilisi following her arrest
Bella Culley’s lawyer Malkhaz Salakaia outside court
Pictured: A bikini-clad Bella with a cannabis joint in her mouth
Culley is languishing in the notorious Women’s Penitentiary Number Five
Lyanne was seen dabbing tears from her eyes during proceedings. After the hearing she cried to her daughter: ‘Bella, I will see you in the morning.’
Auntie Kerrie Culley, 51, and Bella’s grandfather William also supported her.
Mr Salakaia told the court: ‘Negotiations over a plea bargain are ongoing, and not without success.
‘We’ve heard counter-proposals from the prosecution. We need more time regarding a plea bargain for the family to better prepare for all technicalities.’
Asked if he would have his position ready regarding a plea bargain by September 24, Mr Salakaia said they would need more time.
Mr Salakaia asked for bail on a 50,000 lari (£13,750) bond, citing Bella’s pregnancy. ‘She will be here [in Tbilisi], her family will take care of her, and she is ready to cooperate,’ he said.
But his request was denied.
Judge Gelashvili said: ‘Of course we are worried about Miss Bella’s health and that of her child’s, and obviously her child should develop in a free environment.
‘Taking into consideration the ongoing success in negotiations and that the family need more time to consider the prosecutions offer, we can pledge that we can move the date of the next trial the very moment you reach an agreement.’
The case was adjourned until the next hearing on October 9.
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