An 18-year-old British construction apprentice, Marcus Fakana, is serving a one-year prison sentence in Dubai for having sex with a 17-year-old girl. The case sparked controversy due to the differing legal definitions of age of consent in the UK and Dubai. Fakana's imprisonment began after the girl's mother filed a complaint with Dubai authorities upon returning to the UK.
The British teenager who is serving a one year jail sentence in Dubai for having sex with a 17-year-old girl spent the start of the year in solitary confinement in the notorious Al Aweer prison. Marcus Fakana, 18, a construction apprentice, was arrested in August after the mother of the girl he had a secret romance with filed a complaint about Marcus to the Dubai authorities on her return to the UK.
Marcus, of Tottenham, North London, will spend a week in isolation, according to Radha Stirling of Detained in Dubai, an organisation assisting Marcus' case. The human rights expert shared the update on the teen in a post on X yesterday, saying: 'Marcus Fakana spent New Year in isolation where he will be held for a week while undergoing health testing. He cannot call his family. What outrageous treatment of a British teen. The girl’s mother should not have been able to file a criminal complaint from abroad.' Marcus was sentenced to one year inside the maximum-security jail earlier this month. Rather than appealing and dragging the ordeal out for potentially no gain or even a longer sentence, Marcus this week made the difficult decision to turn himself in to begin his sentence. Marcus has been prevented from leaving Dubai since his arrest in August. 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 Pictured is the high-security al-Aweer prison where Fakana will serve his sentence. The jail houses some of Dubai's worst offenders, including murderer, terrorists and rapists 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 will serve his year-long sentence at the Al Aweer jail, which is also known as the Dubai Central Prison for Me
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