A BRIT teen held in Georgia accused of smuggling30lb of marijuana is the great-granddaughter of a Labour MP who was caught up in the parliamentary expenses scandal.
Bella May Culley faces life in in a at Tbilisi airport on suspicion of drug smuggling.
The 18-year-old appeared in earlier this week, where she said was .
But the nursing student from County is the great-granddaughter of ex-Stockton North Labour MP Frank Cook, who passed away in 2012, the MailOnline has reported.
Culley is reported to regularly post pictures with her “special lady”;; grandmother – who is the late MP’s daughter.
In one post wishing her happy birthday, she says she loves her “unconditionally”;; before calling her “one of the most important ladies in my life”;;.
Cook, who represented Stockton North for 27 years, was among the MPs implicated in the 2009 expenses row that rocked Westminster to its core.
It transpired he had claimed for £153,902, which included a £5 donationmade by an aide representing him at a memorial service.
However, he would later explain this donation was an IOU from the member of staff who went to the service on his behalf – and that he expensed it by mistake.
“It was a genuine mistake and I stress again: I would never deliberately make a claim of this kind,”;; he said.
He would later lose a libel case against The Sunday Telegraph following the revelations.
Cook stood as an independent candidate in his constituency at the 2010 after being deselected by Labour, but he failed to retain the seat.
He died in 2012 at the age of 76 – a year after being diagnosed with lungcancer.
Culley was arrested after she was allegedly caught trying to sneak 34 bags of marijuana in her luggage through the Georgian capital’s main airport.
She had been reported missing in – where – before she was arrested 4,000 miles away.
Her family had raised the alarm after she failed to contact anyone since Saturday – despite usually being a prolific texter.
Her dad Neil Culley, who lives in, has reportedly flown to the Eastern European nation to be by his daughter’s side.
A loved-one said: “She is just a student – she doesn’t really go out or do anything like that.She just wanted a break so took herself to Thailand.
“She must have become mixed up with someone. She must have met someone who has taken advantage of her.”;;
Authorities in Georgia claim she tried to stash 34 bags of in her luggage which was detected at the airport.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry says she could face 20 years or even a life sentence in an overcrowded Women’s Penitentiary No. 5 in Rustavi
The country has been blasted for its treatment of its prisoners by rights groups.
Culley’s paternal grandfather said: “I’m terrified that she’s in for a long sentence. I might never see her again – I’m 80 years old.
“She’s got sucked into something, somehow. She’s not an international drug trafficker.
“It’s all just very strange and at the moment we just don’t have any answers.We don’t know what to think.”;;
Bella’s lawyer said after her court appearance: “My client is currently exercising the right to remain silent, so we will provide detailed information later, once they decide how to proceed.”;;
