UK teenager, 18, sentenced to one year in a harsh UAE prison for engaging in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl during a “romantic vacation.”

The British teenager jailed for a year for having sex with a girl, 17, in Dubai is ‘shocked beyond belief’ at the sentence. 

Marcus Fakana, a resident of Tottenham in north London, received heartbreaking news from his lawyer after a short trial. The outcome of the trial has left his family feeling devastated.

While in the UAE with his family, the 18-year-old met and engaged in a sexual relationship with a teenage girl from London. As a result, he now faces the possibility of being imprisoned in a maximum-security facility.

Detained In Dubai, an organization representing Fakana, expressed that the teenager feels abandoned by the British government in light of the ruling. They described the verdict as ‘an utter disgrace’ and ‘an embarrassment to Britain’.

Radha Stirling, founder of the pressure group, said: ‘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. 

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 today. 

‘The family have issued a plea to Dubai ruler, HH Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, to spare Marcus for consensual sex with another British citizen.’

The police investigation in Dubai revealed the sex between the pair was consensual after they examined all the messages the pair had exchanged.

Marcus has previously told how the couple had planned to see each other when they got home.

He said: ‘We had a wonderful time together. We really liked each other but she was secretive with her family because they were strict.

‘My parents knew about our relationship, but she couldn’t tell hers. She had to meet me without telling them it was to see a boy.

‘They said they were taking me in for questioning but wouldn’t tell me why. I couldn’t imagine what for. I was frightened and my parents were terrified.’

After his detention the teen’s distraught family appealed to the Foreign Secretary, who is also their local MP, as well as the ruler of Dubai to try and secure his release.

In a post on the Detained In Dubai website, a statement from Marcus said the Foreign Secretary had ‘sent a couple of letters’, but that he had not heard anything back since.

‘All they have done is send a couple of letters. I am not aware of any diplomatic communications or meetings with UAE counterparts. I feel abandoned, that I am going to lose my life over this before it’s even really begun,’ Marcus said.

Marcus’s statement came after his family last month warned that his mental health was ‘declining’.

Ms Stirling added: ‘Marcus is 18 years old, but faces the demise of his entire life for being intimate with someone in his same school year, who is his same age.

‘This is where Dubai authorities need to be intelligent about their application of the law. Marcus had consensual relations with someone his own age, from his own country while on a short holiday.

‘He does not deserve to be locked up in Dubai Central Prison for a fling’.

A GoFundMe page set up by the family has raised more than £33,000 with the money being used to pay for Marcus’s accommodation and legal fees.

Since his arrest Marcus has been staying in a rented flat and was said to be ‘too scared’ to venture out.

In setting up the GoFundMe page the family wrote: ‘Our son (Marcus) went to the UAE to celebrate his father’s birthday and join a family reunion. What was meant to be a happy time has turned into a nightmare for him, our family and our friends.

‘This has happened as a result of someone trying to misuse UAE law against him. He is being charged with a crime that could lead to imprisonment for up to 20 years.

‘He is only 18 years old, very scared, and his mental health is starting to decline. We’ve done all we can to fight for his freedom, but now we urgently need to raise at least £20,000 to work on getting him back home.

‘We’ve already spent as much as we can on legal help and his housing needs while he stays to fight his case. We’re trying our best, but we are struggling with the funds to continue this fight. The legal system in Dubai is very different  from the UK and very expensive which makes this whole ordeal even more challenging.’

Marcus and his holiday love affair were planning to continue their relationship when they were back in London. 

In a previous GoFundMe page set up two months ago, the family alleged Marcus had been denied a translator and forced to sign a confession document he did not understand.

They said: ‘He has been wrongfully accused of a crime he did not commit, and is now caught in a legal battle in Dubai.

‘This is not just a misunderstanding, it is racial discrimination, with someone seeking to use the UAE law against him.

‘While detained he was denied access to a translator and forced to sign a confession document he didn’t understand. He is only 18 years old, terrified, and very scared.

‘His mental health is deteriorating rapidly.’

A spokesman for Foreign and Commonwealth Office told MailOnline: ‘We are supporting a British man in the UAE and are in contact with his family.’