A British teenager accused of smuggling cannabis into Georgia sparked an international row, after Thai cops rubbished her tearful courtroom claims that she was tortured and forced to carry drugs.
Bella May Culley broke down in a Tbilisi courtroom, sobbing.
“I was forced by torture… I just wanted to travel.”
Thai immigration chiefs say her dramatic story is pure fiction and they’ve got the footage to prove it.
Police Lieutenant General Choengron Rimpadee hit back at the allegations.
“There is absolutely no factual basis to her claims.”
He then presented CCTV footage showing Culley strolling through passport control at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport without any signs of distress.
“There is no evidence whatsoever that any immigration or police officers forced or threatened the suspect to smuggle drugs out of the country.”
Culley, from Billingham, Teesside, in the North-East of England, was arrested in Georgia earlier this year after allegedly trying to smuggle 14 kilogrammes of cannabis and hashish into the country, a crime that could see her locked up for life.
Thai officials say they are now blacklisting the 19 year old woman from re-entering the kingdom, listing her as a “prohibited person” after what they called credible links to drug trafficking.
In court, the Teesside teenager painted a harrowing picture of abuse, claiming she was burned with a hot iron and coerced by a criminal gang in Thailand.
“All I wanted to do was to travel and this happened to me. I’m clean, I had nothing in my blood test. I wanted to make my family proud. Thanks for listening,” she said, wiping away tears with a tissue handed to her by her solicitor.
Her father Neil and aunt were present in court as her lawyer, Malkaz Salakaia, alleged Bella had been promised a warm welcome at Tbilisi airport, but instead ran into customs officers who found the stash.
Salakaia even asked her to show the court a bruise on her right hand, which he claimed was caused by an iron used during torture in Thailand, The Daily Star reported.
He alleged a corrupt Thai police officer was part of the gang that coerced her.
Judge Lela Kalichenko acknowledged Bella’s youth, pregnancy, and clean record, noting her strong family support but still refused bail, ruling that the seriousness of the charges made her a flight risk.
Culley, who went missing in Thailand before turning up in Georgian custody, is due back in court on Thursday, July 10.
As she left the dock in tears, her family tried to reassure her.
“Try not to worry. Good girl.”
Thai officials , meanwhile, insist her sob story is a smokescreen.
“We believe the allegations are an attempt to reduce her sentence,” Lt. Gen. Choengron said. “But the facts, and the footage, speak for themselves.”
The story Hash bluff? British teenager’s ‘torture’ tale rubbished by Thai cops as seen on Thaiger News.
