British teenager Bella Culley has made a court appearance in Georgia, facing allegations of drug smuggling. The 19-year-old, who hails from Billingham, Teesside, stood before Tbilisi City Court on June 1 and entered a plea of not guilty to charges related to the possession and trafficking of a significant quantity of illegal substances. Despite being pregnant, Bella is close to reaching a plea agreement that could lead to her release from prison upon payment of a fine.
The judge has refused bail for Bella, scheduling the next hearing in Georgia for October 9. However, Culley is not the sole British national currently detained abroad on drug smuggling accusations. William “Billy Boy” Eastment, a 79-year-old British pensioner, is facing charges of smuggling over 5kg of drugs into Chile. If convicted, he risks spending the rest of his life behind bars. Eastment’s family disclosed that he agreed to transport a suitcase in exchange for a substantial sum of money, unaware that it contained drugs, following a scam that depleted his savings.
Meanwhile, Jon Collyer, Lisa Stocker, and Phineas Float were apprehended at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport for allegedly carrying nearly a kilogram of cocaine hidden in their luggage. They managed to avoid the death penalty and were sentenced to 12 months in prison, with the possibility of early release by 2026 considering time already served. In a separate incident, Thomas Parker from Cumbria was convicted of failing to report a drug-related offense in Bali and received a 10-month prison sentence.
Charlotte May Lee, a part-time beautician from South London, was detained in Sri Lanka after authorities discovered a substantial amount of synthetic cannabis in her luggage. She maintains her innocence, claiming the drugs were planted without her knowledge. Kimberly Hall, a 29-year-old beautician from Middlesbrough, was apprehended at Chicago’s O’Hare airport with a significant quantity of cocaine but may receive a reduced sentence through a plea deal. Lastly, Cameron Bradford, a 21-year-old woman from Hertfordshire, avoided imprisonment after being charged with cannabis-related offenses in Germany and was handed a two-year suspended sentence.