Jess Battison
The British teen who was jailed in Dubai after having sex with a girl has made a plea to the ruling Sheikh.
Marcus Fakana was sentenced in December to one year in prison.
The 19-year-old from Tottenham, north London, engaged in a consensual relationship with a 17-year-old British girl while holidaying with family in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The age of consent in the Middle Eastern country is 18.
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After returning to the UK, the girl’s mum saw messages between the two and reported Fakana (who was 18 years old at the time) to the UAE authorities.
At the time, the teen said he ‘couldn’t imagine what’ police wanted to question him for when they showed up at his hotel door, leaving him and his parents ‘terrified’.
Rasha Stirling, founder of Detained in Dubai, said at the time: “This is clearly a very strict mother to involve police in a private matter that is completely legal in the country where she lives and where the children have grown up.
“Perhaps she wasn’t aware that she triggered the possibility of a young man of only 18 spending the next 20 years in prison.”
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Fakana has now written to the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, from Al Awir Prison asking to be released.
“Marcus is struggling, and this experience will leave a permanent scar,” Stirling said.
“We implore Sheikh Mohammed and the government of Dubai to hear his pleas and let him come home.”
The legal aid company has been supporting the teen and his family, as they said it has been ‘the most traumatic and life-altering experience imaginable’ for him.
“He is barely an adult himself, and never intended to break any law,” Stirling added.
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“What happened was legal in the UK and consensual. But now he is facing permanent damage to his mental health and future prospects because of it.”
Detained in Dubai said Fakana was only able to have sporadic, short calls with his family as his parents appealed to Foreign Secretary David Lammy, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the British Embassy in Dubai for assistance in trying to get him released early.
“If Marcus could go back in time, he would. He has shown remorse and fully respects the laws of the UAE. He only hopes the government will show compassion and allow him to return home to rebuild his life,” Stirling said.
“He's very young and this is a heart-breaking way to begin adulthood.”
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A FCDO spokesperson told LADbible Group: “We are supporting a British man in the UAE and are in contact with his family.”