An 18-year-old Tottenham resident’s holiday with his parents has turned into a months-long ordeal that could lead to 20 years in prison after he was charged with having s£x with another tourist – a 17-year-old girl, who is now 18.
Marcus Fakana joined his parents for what was supposed to be a short holiday starting August 26, 2024.
While there, he met a girl, 17, staying at the same hotel.
After having s£x, the teenagers made plans to continue their “blossoming” teenage romance when they returned to London, according to Detained in Dubai.
But the campaign group says he is now stuck in Dubai facing decades in prison after the girl’s parents looked through her phone and reported him to the police when they got home.
Fakana claims he did not know the girl was months younger than him when they met. Their relationship would be legal in the UK.
Dubai has only recently legalised out-of-wedlock s£x for tourists but still has a strict Islamic legal system.
“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”, Marcus Fakana told Detained in Dubai.
“When she left, I couldn’t wait to see her again when I got home. Then suddenly, police knocked on our hotel door. 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”.
Fakana, from Tottenham, north London, says he was held at a police station for three days and was unable to make a phone call or speak with his parents.
“They were worried sick”, said Radha Stirling, Detained in Dubai’s chief executive who is assisting Mr Fakana. “He was told his girlfriend’s mother had reported the relationship to authorities in Dubai after she had arrived back in London.
“Marcus later found out the mother had looked on her daughter’s phone and found their chats and pictures. She was furious and reported him to Dubai’s police.
“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.
“The girl was just a few months younger than Marcus and he didn’t know that at the time. This is not something Dubai should be prosecuting.
“Parents will be scared to take their older teenagers on vacation with them where they could end up losing their lives over behaviour that’s completely legal in their own countries,” added Ms Stirling.
Marcus and his family are calling on Tottenham MP David Lammy for help after he was appointed as foreign secretary in July.
Ms Stirling, a veteran expert witness in extradition cases involving the United Arab Emirates, said: “Mr Lammy is in a perfect position to help young Marcus.
“Dubai police have the power to drop the case against Marcus and let him come home. This is not something we want to do to young people and we ask Mr Lammy MP to convey this message to his counterparts in the UAE.”