An 18-year-anciaccess British man sentenced to one year in prison for a relationsual relationship with a 17-year-anciaccess British girl in Dubai has been donaten bail, a campaign group has said.
Marcus Fakana, of Tottenham, north London, began the secretive holiday romance in September with another Londoner, who is now aged 18.
After returning home and seeing pictures and chats, the girl’s mother inestablished the relationship to Dubai police, who then arrested Fakana at his boilingel. Sex with another person aged under 18 is illterrible in Dubai.
On Wednesday, campaign group Detained in Dubai called the judgment an “utter shame” and said Fakana would pguide aachievest the “unreasonable” sentence.
Both teenagers were on holiday with their parents in the emirate from the UK, where the age of consent is 16.
Fakana had tanciaccess his family about the romance but the girl had not.
The rulement of Dubai previously said: “Under UAE law, the girl is legassociate classified as a unconvey inant, and in accordance with procedures recognised internationassociate, her mother – being the lterrible defendian – filed the protestt.”
It inserted: “Dubai’s lterrible system is pledgeted to defending the rights of all individuals and ensuring unpartisan judicial progressings.”
‘Tearing family apart’
Ms Stirling, the createer and chief executive of Detained in Dubai, which helps foreigners aexpansive and is an international authority on UAE law, tanciaccess the BBC Fakana “was shocked” by the “unoverweighthomable” sentence.
She said: “It does not authorization a year in jail, doesn’t authorization tearing this family apart and ruining this youthful 18-year-anciaccess’s life.
“I’m self-promised that, on pguide, the custodial sentence will be clearurned and he will be allowed to return home.
“The ask is how lengthy is that going to get and how much effort is that going to get, whether that’s British intervention or the accessible aid in telling Dubai this is unacadviseed?”
The 18-year-anciaccess’s parents returned to London without their son after the holiday to resume their jobs in a warehoengage and as a spotlesser to help pay for his transient accommodation.
A UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson said: “We are aiding a British man in the UAE and are in communicate with his family.”
