Marcus Fakana gets prison sentence in Dubai.

Maybe if laws were so well enforced in the UK it would address some of the social problems we have here

Aren't raped women branded as adulterers? This happened to a British woman a few years ago who reported her rape in Dubai. All involved were British holiday-makers.

It also sounds like the mother of the girl was hazy about the consequences of reporting this in Dubai.

Extra-marital sex, I imagine.

In Dubai they arrest women who are raped. Look it up. This girl would definitely have gone to prison too if it had been reported while she was still in the country.

Dubai laws are so archaic

There is some real empathy on this thread isn't there?! My goodness.

The poor lad is a child, have you never done anything inadvisable as a teen?

And for those of you braying about how it's the law - did you look up the laws of the country when you went on holidays as a young person? Of course you didn't. Why would you, he would have trusted it was safe, he was with his parents.

If anyone is to blame they are for not properly researching the destination and telling him what's what.

Really sad situation, I'm relived he's"only" got a year but that could be life changing. God only knows what prisons are like there. I hope somehow he can be released to UK custody.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly2zq1yl0ko

This says girl and him are from London - not seen any article saying she or that her mother is Dubai only seen that stated on here on previous thread it was stated she was from a strict Indian family - so I've no idea what the girls background is - and if she being raised in London as is apparently UK citizen how much that make any of this understandable.

Radha Stirling, the founder and chief executive of Detained in Dubai, said Fakana, who has been unable to leave the country since September, was "desperately hoping" to return 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 said.
"The family have issued a plea to Dubai ruler HH Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum to spare Marcus for consensual sex with another British citizen."

Sounds like he was very unlucky to get reported and the support group think he was unlucky in it's handling and it could have been treated more leniently.

Bloody hell. The hate for UAE is so sttong that people argue that getting nicked after having sex with under age of consent person is wrong

She committed no offence. She was the victim.

The Mum is from Dubai she isn't from London.

It is not an offence for her too. What is her offence here?

There is some real empathy on this thread isn't there?! My goodness.

The poor lad is a child, have you never done anything inadvisable as a teen?

And for those of you braying about how it's the law - did you look up the laws of the country when you went on holidays as a young person? Of course you didn't. Why would you, he would have trusted it was safe, he was with his parents.

If anyone is to blame they are for not properly researching the destination and telling him what's what.

Really sad situation, I'm relived he's"only" got a year but that could be life changing. God only knows what prisons are like there. I hope somehow he can be released to UK custody.

The girl is considered a victim. So not really.
Like do you consider arresting 14 year old in UKif she has sex with16 year old or is it just the 16 year old who is in trouble. Samw principle.

Great, absolutely no bearing on this tho. Uk doesn't afaik

I dont imagine she'll be going back.

If you visit a country you must abide by its laws. He should not have embarked on a romance with an under age girl and must take the consequences. His parents could ask the Foreign Office to request the young man's return to serve his sentence in the UK - though I am not sure that would be any better.
What happened, however, is also a warning about visiting countries with retarded laws - never visit Dubai, or anywhere like it.

I'm sorry but when you travel abroad you should know the really big obvious cultural differences that are well-documented. Age of consent and when sex is legal are the first things you should check before travelling and having sex. It's very well known that extramarital sex or premarital sex is forbidden in UAE. For another example, if he'd done it in the US he could have been prosecuted for statutory rape. Her parents were twats though.

He broke the law.

should foreign tourists who break the law when visiting the UK get away with it?

On one hand, it seems ridiculous.

On the other hand... if a foreigner had committed a crime against a woman in the UK, that wasn't a crime in their home country, there would be outcry if he was just deported.

So we can't have it both ways.

Great, absolutely no bearing on this tho. Uk doesn't afaik

The equivalent situation would be a 16 year old tourist having consensual sex with a 15 year old tourist. You're living on another planet if you think the authorities here would be remotely interested in that scenario.

I hope the mother who reported this poor boy is feeling pleased with herself.

No, they'll be fine. The laws are specifically for extramarital intercourse.

Anyone who is legally married, of whatever age, is not committing an offence provided the person they have sex with is their own spouse.

I feel sorry for him. He broke the law, but his punishment seems completely disproportionate. I wouldn't go to Dubai if you paid me.

But to the poster saying he's in the same boat as if he were in the US where they have the same age of consent (not everywhere, actually, it varies state to state) do you really think 18YO men are routinely imprisoned in the USA - for a year - for having sex with their almost 18YO girlfriends?
They're not.