Demo for boy jailed in Dubai over sex with girl

January 4

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Supporters of an 18-year-old Briton jailed for having sex with a 17-year-old British girl in Dubai have staged a protest in central London.

Marcus Fakana from Tottenham is serving a one-year prison sentence after being convicted of having sex with the girl, who has now turned 18, when they were both on holiday.

The girl’s mother reported him to the Dubai authorities after seeing messages between the two when she had returned to the UK.

The age of consent in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is 18.

‘Unfathomable sentence’

Fakana’s friends and family gathered in Westminster to demand the release of the teenager.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it was supporting a British man in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Fakana had been on bail since his arrest in September, staying in temporary accommodation in Dubai.

His parents returned to London to resume their jobs, in a warehouse and as a cleaner, to help pay for their son’s accommodation.

According to the UK-based campaign group and charity Detained in Dubai – which helps foreigners abroad and is an international authority on UAE law – Fakana is in Al Awir prison, a jail for adult men on the eastern outskirts of Dubai.

Radha Stirling from the charity previously told the BBC Fakana’s sentence was “unfathomable”.

She said: “It does not warrant a year in jail, doesn’t warrant tearing this family apart and ruining this young 18-year-old’s life.

“I’m confident that, on appeal, the custodial sentence will be overturned and he will be allowed to return home.

“The question is how long is that going to take and how much effort is that going to take, whether that’s British intervention or the public support in telling Dubai this is unacceptable?”

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