Marcus Fakana Dubai: Brit teen breaks silence after handed prison sentence over week-long holiday romance - what has he said?
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Marcus Fakana had a week-long holiday romance with a girl, also British, but was arrested and detained after her mother complained to the Dubai police. The 18-year-old has been banned from leaving the country for four months and on Monday (9 December) went on trial on a charge of underage sex.
The British teen is accused of having sex with the 17-year-old girl who was just a few months younger than him while on holiday in Dubai. He was arrested in August after the mother of the teen he was involved with filed a complaint about Fakana to the Dubai authorities on her return to the UK.
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Hide AdShe had checked her daughter's phone and discovered they had been sleeping together. Since returning from Dubai the girl has turned 18.


Under UAE law only tourists aged over 18 are legally allowed to sleep together. In the UK he would not have considered to have committed any crime.
Yesterday (Wednesday 11 December) he was sentenced to a year behind bars. Fakana was facing the prospect of spending up to 20 years in jail following his arrest.
He has called on the ruler of the UAE to commute his 12-month sentence, insisting he never intended to break the law. He has made a public plea to Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum to “give him his life back” and allow him to return to the UK.
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Hide AdHe told the Daily Mail: "Today I was sentenced to one year in Dubai prison. My family and I are devastated and in shock. I never intended to break the law. It didn’t occur to me at the time and for that, I’m sorry.
"I am asking His Highness, Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum to please forgive me and pardon me. Let me go home. Please give me my life back."
The police investigation revealed that the sex between the pair was consensual after they examined all the messages the pair had exchanged. They have also recovered CCTV footage from Dubai hotels that show the couple together.
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.
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Hide Ad“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. 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.” A GoFundMe page set up by the family has raised over £33,000 with the money being used to pay for Marcus's accommodation and legal fees.
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