The British teenager jailed for a year in Dubai over a holiday romance has broken his silence to tell of his ‘shock’ over the sentence.
Marcus Fakana has pleaded with the ruler of Dubai to commute the sentence and be allowed to return home.
The 18-year-old was with his family in the UAE when he met and had sex with the teenage girl, also from London. He now faces rotting in a maximum-security jail.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline from the UAE where he faces 12 months in a hellhole jail, the 18-year-old begged: ‘Please give me my life back’.
Marcus apologised for breaking the law and described his ‘devastation’ at the year long sentence.
He said: ‘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”.
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
Marcus’ parents have asked Dubai ruler HH Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum ‘to please let our boy come home’
The teenager is out on bail while his lawyer prepares an appeal against the sentence.
He is being allowed to stay at a rented apartment that is being funded by the more than £30,000 raised in a Go Fund Me campaign.
The teen is being comforted by members of his family who flew to Dubai ahead of his trial on Monday at the First Court of Instance.
They were forced to sit outside the courtroom while his lawyer argued for leniency and were not allowed to participate in the 15-minute hearing.
Under Dubai law those accused are not allowed to take part in a trial with prosecutors and defence lawyers arguing the case.
Marcus was travelling in a car when he received the ‘shock’ news that he had been convicted and given a year in jail.
His lawyer is filing paperwork today to expedite an appeal but the legal process in Dubai is notoriously slow, and it could take up months before his case is heard.
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.
The family of Marcus Fakana, from Tottenham, London, have been left devastated by his prison sentence, sources claimed
Marcus is pictured with his family who have been battling to get the teenager released
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
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.
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.’
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.
Marcus says he feels ‘abandoned’ by Foreign Secretary David Lammy (pictured) and the British government
Radha Stirling, founder of British-based aid group Detained In Dubai, slammed the government for not doing more to help the teen, branding the situation an ’embarrassment’ to Britain
‘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.
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.
Detained In Dubai, which represents Fakana, said the teen ‘feels abandoned by the British government’ following the judgement, which it branded ‘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.’
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