In case you haven’t been following: 18-year-old British girl Bella May Culley sparked a massive international search operation this week after going missing in Thailand, only to pop up 4,000 miles away in Georgia where she was busted with 14kg of cannabis in her suitcase at Tbilisi International Airport.

Her dad and sister had travelled out to Thailand to look for her, only to learn she had been imprisoned for drug smuggling thousands of miles away in Eastern Europe. Imagine!

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Bella told Tbilisi city court during her first hearing that she’s “pregnant”, which isn’t exactly ideal given she’s looking at 20 years – life imprisonment for international drugs smuggling.

Since then, her granddad has spoken out to suggest that Bella had been ‘taken advantage of’ by experienced criminals, and has now put forward a name that might be involved.

Her grandad revealed that Bella was meeting a man she ‘used to go out with’ during her holiday in Southeast Asia.

William Culley, 80, said:

‘She went to the Philippines to see somebody, a lad there, who she used to go out with a couple of years ago, who was working out there.

‘She said, “I’m going on my own, but I’m meeting Ross out there.” Or Russ, I’m not sure what his name is.

‘He was working out there for his father’s company or something – but now I wonder if what she told me was true.’

Bella’s social media activity in the days before she went missing did show her in the company of a man, but he was never clearly photographed.

Bella’s granddad added:

‘Last night [Bella’s dad] told they could see her in the morning.

‘They said they’d ring me straight after they had seen her, but I haven’t had a call. They must still be waiting.

‘It’s just really important that they get to see her as soon as possible. The poor bairn must be at her wits’ end. Especially if we can’t see her.’

Bella’s lawyer Ia Touda told The Sun that Bella appeared ‘visibly shaken’ when told she may spend 20 years behind bars:

 ‘My impression was that she ended up in Georgia without even knowing what she was doing.’

Well, I suppose that’s one defence they can use.

Meanwhile, Bella’s cousin Claire Taylorson says that a fake GoFundMe claiming to be raising money for the family has been set up. So if you see that being shared around, just know that it has nothing to do with Bella or her family, who have categorically said they will not be asking for any financial help.

Obviously if I’m this ‘Russ’ chap, I’m absolutely fuming that my name has been brought up in all this, especially if he’s got nothing to do with it. We’ll have to wait and see whether he’s involved or if Bella wants to share his details with the authorities, perhaps in exchange for a more lenient sentence. After all, no 18-year-old wants to do 20 years – life in prison, especially in a foreign country. She’s got her whole life ahead of her!

Perhaps the British government can step in and help out, but it’s hard to say exactly what they can do at this point. We’ll keep you posted.

For the two girls who were recently caught smuggling 35kg of cannabis from New York to Birmingham, click HERE.