In April 2025, 19-year-old Bella May Culley embarked on a gap year, travelling around Southeast Asia before she started her career as an aspiring nurse.

She left her hometown of Billingham in the UK to travel to the Philippines, according to The Independent, before moving on to explore Thailand in early May.

Within days, the holiday would take a dark turn.

Soon after arriving in Thailand, Bella was reported missing. Suddenly, the teen, who had remained in close contact with her family during her trip, was radio silent.

Then, on May 10, Bella resurfaced at Tbilisi International Airport in Georgia, carrying a large amount of cannabis.

Bella claimed she was tortured by a Thai gang and coerced into smuggling drugs. The Georgian justice system wasn't so sure.

After avoiding long sentence, Bella spent just six months behind bars, before released from prison — heavily pregnant.

This is her story.

What happened to Bella Culley?

When Bella disappeared, her family said they "feared the worst".

"Nobody knew where she was," her grandfather William Cutley told The Mirror.

Then the call came that she was in jail. William couldn't believe it.

"She was on holiday with some friends, doing what 18-year-olds do — drinking and dancing," he said.

"They must have met somebody who's taken advantage of her."

Suddenly, Bella was facing up to 20 years in jail or life imprisonment if convicted.

At 80 years old, he worried he might never see his granddaughter again.

"She's got sucked into something, somehow. She's not an international drug trafficker," he said.

"She's not daft, she's an intelligent girl. Why has she done it? Has someone dangled money in front of her? We just don't know what has gone on until we get out there and talk to her. We are just hoping that somebody can do something. She must be terrified."

Bella said she just wanted to travel when she was coerced by a Thai gang. Image: Rustavi2/east2west news.

During a pre-trial hearing, Bella told the court she became involved with a Thai drug gang, who coerced her with the threat of violence to herself and her family to transport drugs into Georgia.

The teenager said she had been "forced to do this through torture".

"I just wanted to travel," she said, per BBC. "I am a good person. I am a student at university. I am a clean person. I don't do drugs."

"I never thought that something like that would happen to me," she said.

By this time, Bella was eight months pregnant, but the identity of the father had not been revealed.

Georgian prosecutors said she was carrying 12kg of marijuana and 2kg of hashish in her luggage.

Bella initially pleaded not guilty at a hearing in July 2025 to possession and trafficking of illegal drugs.

She spent almost six months in pre-trial detention in Georgia's Rustavi Prison Number 5 — where her mother told the BBC she had only a hole in the ground for a toilet, one hour of fresh air daily and communal showers twice a week — before being moved to a "mother and baby" unit.

In October 2025, Bella's family confirmed they paid £137,000 ($275,000 AUD) to reduce her sentence.

Initially, her sentence was set to be reduced to two years. However, on November 3, 2025, Bella was released from prison after prosecutors made last-minute changes to the plea deal.

Instead, Bella was sentenced to the five months and 24 days she had already served in jail in the South Caucasus country.

Bella leaving court. Image: AP.

Flanked by her mother and lawyer outside the courthouse moments after being released, the teenager said she had not been expecting to walk free, and was "happy and relieved" at the news.

Bella quickly returned home within a few days. Since then, she's kept a low profile, staying out of the media spotlight and beginning her motherhood journey.

The case prosecutor, Vakhtang Tsalughelashvili, said authorities had adjusted Bella's plea agreement after taking into account her young age and pregnancy.

"We are very grateful that they took Bella's situation and financial condition into consideration," Culley's lawyer Malkhaz Salakaia told reporters.

Her release came as Georgia was tightening penalties for drug-related offences.

Drug smuggling carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years in Georgia.

-with AAP.

Feature image: Facebook.