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A heavily pregnant British teenager being held in Georgia over drug smuggling charges has finally been moved to a mother and baby unit.
Bella Culley, 19, is awaiting sentence after she was accused of smuggling 12kg (26lb) of marijuana and 2kg (4.4lb) of hashish in her hold luggage at Tbilisi International Airport in May.
The teenager has spent the last five months being forced to boil pasta in a kettle and toast bread over a candle as she was held in Georgia’s Rustavi Prison Number Five, according to her mother.
Inside the former Soviet jail, she also had to use a hole in the ground for a toilet and was limited to one hour of fresh air a day, and communal showers twice a week.
However, the parent revealed Ms Culley, now 35 weeks pregnant, has been transferred to a mother and baby unit where she is expected to give birth before Christmas.
Her family last week made a payment of £137,000 to reduce her sentence after reaching a plea bargain with prosecutors at Tbilisi City Court.
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Lyanne Kennedy, mother of British teenager Bella Culley, outside Tbilisi City Court (Reuters)
The teen claimed she was forced to traffic the drugs by a gang that threatened to kill her family.
Her mother Lyanne Kennedy, 44, from Billingham, Teesside, said she is now able to cook for herself and is learning Georgian inside the mother and baby unit.
Describing the improved conditions since a transfer earlier this month, Ms Kennedy told the BBC: “She now gets two hours out for walking, she can use the communal kitchen, has a shower in her room and a proper toilet.
“They all cook for each other. Bella has been making eggy bread and cheese toasties, and salt and pepper chicken.”
Ms Culley is due to give birth before Christmas after falling pregnant while travelling in southeast Asia. Her arrest in Georgia followed a period where she had been reported missing in Thailand.
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Culley, then 18, was arrested at Tbilisi International Airport in Georgia earlier this year (East2West)
She initially pleaded not guilty at a hearing in July to possession and trafficking illegal drugs and said she had been tortured into transporting them. She said she was a “clean person” and did not do drugs.
Ms Kennedy told reporters outside the Tbilisi courthouse on Tuesday that the family had paid 500,000 lari ($186,846) to officials as part of a plea bargain and were waiting for the funds to be credited to the relevant government account.
It is understood the sum is enough money to significantly reduce the amount of time Ms Culley serves.
A further hearing is expected on Monday.