British teen to remain in detention in Georgia ahead of drug smuggling trial
Bella Culley, 19, was arrested on arrival at Tbilisi airport in May
A Georgian court has ordered British teenager Bella Culley to remain in detention until her trial on drug smuggling charges.
Culley, 19, from Billingham in northeast England, was arrested on arrival at Tbilisi airport in May. Georgian prosecutors say she was carrying a large amount of cannabis and hashish in luggage she had brought with her from Thailand.
She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In previous court appearances, Culley has said she was tortured into transporting the drugs, and that she is pregnant.
On Thursday, the order was made for her to remain in detention ahead of her trial, scheduled to start on September 2.
Drug smuggling carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years in the South Caucasus country.
The teenager had decided to travel to southeast Asia after finishing her course at Middlesbrough College. Her mother toldTeesside Live that her daughter flew to the Philippines after Easter with a friend and was there for three weeks.
Culley then went to Thailand on May 3, reportedly to meet friends she had made on a previous trip that her mother did not know.
She vanished in Thailand before resurfacing at Tbilisi International Airport.