British teenager Marcus Fakanda has surrendered himself to authorities in the UAE and began his one year jail sentence in the notorious Al Awir prison after having sex with a 17-year-old girl in the country in September.
In a message posted before entering prison, the student wrote: ‘Thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout my fight.
‘It’s been a long fight but nothing is hard with my Lord and saviour Jesus Christ guiding me. I’m grateful for all the people who helped by donating to me and my family of faith for supporting me.’
The 18-year-old was with his family in the UAE when he met and had sex with the teenaged girl, also from London. He now faces rotting in a maximum-security jail.
Detained In Dubai, which represents Fakana, said the teen ‘feels abandoned by the British government‘ following the judgement, which it branded ‘an utter disgrace’ and ‘an embarrassment to Britain’.
Radha Stirling, founder of the pressure group, said: ‘The police had discretion to charge him with a misdemeanour like ‘offensive behaviour’ or similar, but chose to charge him with the felony of sex with an underage girl, the same law a 40 year old engaging in sex with a 14 year old would have been charged with.
‘Although Marcus received the lowest statutory sentence, it is clear that this could have been handled more reasonably and the prosecutors could have exercised more discretion.
Rather than appealing and dragging the ordeal out for potentially no gain or even a longer sentence, Marcus made the difficult decision to turn himself in to begin his sentence.
Marcus Fakana had a weeklong holiday romance with the girl, also British, but was arrested and detained after her mother complained to the Dubai police. He has now been jailed
While the relationship would have been legal in the UK, under Dubai law a 17-year-old is defined as a child. The girl, from London, has since turned 18
‘He never imagined that he would be going to jail for a holiday romance with a girl who was a few months younger, but is now the same age.
‘It is just shocking. His life is being ruined. Here we have two British tourists who were on holiday in a consensual relationship and now one is going to jail.
‘Dubai likes to market itself as a glamorous party destination, one for influencers yet they are jailing a British tourist for a something that would not be a crime in his own country and ruining his life.’
Fakana has been prevented from leaving Dubai since his arrest in August. He will serve his year-long sentence at the al-Awir jail which is also known as the Dubai Central prison for men.
The notorious high-security prison houses death row inmates and some of Dubai’s worst criminals – including terrorists, murderers and rapists.
Ms Sterling added: ‘I did expect the British Government, as other Governments have done, to step up and save one of their citizens from unjust sentencing.
‘Marcus did plead guilty, but police and prosecutors had a disturbing litany of details in his file which ended up making it more than a misdemeanour and heard in a higher court.
‘They said he was older than 19 and he was from Pakistan. He was a British citizen. There were a lot errors deliberately to torment him.’
Sterling said he now hoped the rule of Dubai could get involved as he has done in the past involving visitors who have fallen foul of their laws.
Marcus, a construction apprentice, was arrested in August after the mother of the girl he had a secret romance with filed a complaint about Fakana to the Dubai authorities on her return to the UK.
She had checked her daughter’s phone and discovered they had been sleeping together. Since returning from Dubai the girl has turned 18.
The family of Marcus Fakana, from Tottenham, London, have been left devastated by his prison sentence, sources claimed
Pictured is the high-security al-Awir Central Prison where Fakana will serve his sentence. The jail houses some of Dubai’s worst offenders, including murderer, terrorists and rapists
Radha Stirling, founder of British-based aid group Detained In Dubai, slammed the government for not doing more to help the teen, branding the situation an ’embarrassment’ to Britain
Under strict UAE law only tourists aged over 18 are legally allowed to sleep together. In the UK he would not have been considered to have committed any crime.
Ms Stirling blasted the ‘unreasonable’ sentence and slammed Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy for not doing enough to help the teen.
‘Marcus feels abandoned by the British government and Keir Starmer who just spent the weekend in the UAE,’ she wrote in a blistering tweet on X.
‘While people like JD Vance and the Irish government have been able to resolve cases of injustice and bring their citizens home, the UK has prioritised trade deals over people’s lives. This is truly abhorrent.
‘David Lammy and Keir Starmer have failed Marcus. This is an embarrassment to Britain… the Labour government should be ashamed they have not secured the freedom of a teenage tourist. It wasn’t a difficult job.’
Ms Stirling said Fakana’s parents ‘don’t know what to do’ and had to return to London without their son to resume work as a cleaner and in a warehouse.
‘He was desperately hoping to come home this week but prosecutorial mishandling in the first stages of the case meant it wasn’t heard as a misdemeanour when it should have been,’ she added.
