Marcus Fakana gets prison sentence in Dubai.

[Ohnonotmeagain]

This is the 18 year old lad who had a holiday romance with a 17 year old girl in Dubai. She was just short of 18.

her parents found out and reported him to the Dubai authorities before he returned home.

his poor parents aren’t well off and had to return home to work leaving him there.

he’s now been sentenced to 1 year in prison.

aibu to think this poor boy should never have been brought before court.

Id agree wholeheartedly here - being black or muslim is a completely no go when it comes to non muslim asians. Im in my 40s and even friends i thought most progressive, would never upset their parents by doing this nor would they want their kids to. TBH being muslim is considered the worst option because of historical situations, but black is next worst.

When i said if white, the authorities would be more helpful - its because how many times do we see some sort of blonde drug mule getting freed after intentionally carrying drugs.

The mother of the girl was clearly a vindictive nasty person to do this. Probably for the sake of her daughters ‘honour’, despite it being consensual.

I was talking to this guy a while back when I did OLD. He had a teen son and was thinking of taking him to Dubai or Spain. He happened to be Black and so was his son. I don’t speak to him anymore but I hope he chose Spain!

I really hope that people learn from this and don’t get mesmerised by all the influencer and tourism Dubai propaganda.

If you have to go there for work,and there’s absolutely no getting out of it - at least read up on all the rules and check out the detained in Dubai blog for an idea of some of the random things people have been detained for.

The “villain” in this sorry debacle is the Mother of the girl,what a spiteful vile person she must be.

Yes, a 17 yo girl, almost 18, and a 18 yo boy having sex is not unusual. Her parents are ridiculous.

Hardly, are you joking? You think UK values are akin to these. I don't think the justice system is arbitrarily applied for a start. There are so many examples of appalling prison conditions and practices and arrests just Google it. The poor young flight attendant who was arrested for a suicide attempt for example.

My moral shock appears to be felt by many on this thread and is commonplace so why do you think that is?

I don’t know why black people should avoid Dubai. Have you actually been it’s the most multicultural place on the planet. Everyone from the four corners of the world is there.

The ignorance on this thread is shocking

I really hope so. I hope she takes the consequences of her actions on board. Different if her daughter had been much younger, but these were similarly aged teens. What she did was OTT. Lots of 16 and 17 year olds are sexually active, so if she didn’t want her daughter getting friendly with boys, she should have kept a closer watch on her.

How is it ignorance - the proof is there for all to see, the records speak for themselves. Besides who wants to find this out by visiting.

The girl's mother must be hoping and praying that her identity does not become known.

Yes, tourists can buy alcohol in bottle shops by showing their passport, can also drink in hotels/bars etc that have a licence, just like residents. The woman you’re referring to was actually arrested due to a warrant issued for administering Botox illegally…but the Daily Mail had no interest in the that part of the story. And you can hold hands in public, but overt PDA’s are frowned upon. I lived there for 5 years so know a bit about it.

I feel bad for him but glad it’s not a much bigger sentence as I remember reading he could get twenty years.

But as an adult he surely knew he was breaking the law there.

Yes, the girls mother was vindictive. That is probably the main talking point here.

And also yes, the man's family using photos of his younger self in school uniform to give the impression he's a child maybe.

But he's a grown man, an adult of 18, and should now be needs to adhere to the laws of whatever countries he visits.

If it wasn't for the effect it would have on the girl in the centre of this, I would gladly out her if I knew who she was.

I'm not sure it's necessarily about supporting this, stuckdownahole - at least it isn't for me - but that's what their laws say and it's hardly our place to tell them how to run their own country

That's been tried many times and in many places before and doesn't tend to end well, so really all we can do is vote with our feet and avoid the place

I didn't have sex with anybody who was regarded by the Law as a child, no.

And yes, I did - things like whether it was legal to drink, sunbathe topless, drive a vehicle are all very relevant to somebody aged 18 or 19 as much as they are aged 20. Or 40.

Of course, if somebody from a country where there is no age of consent or it's lower visits here and has sexual contact with an 11 year old, by your reasoning, that's OK, then? Or the Gary Glitters of the world off after the youngest possible children he can get away with (and still wanted younger, hence the prison sentence) should be able to do that because hey, there's no law stopping them?

Do you research the law in countries you are going to visit?
I don't. And I definitely wouldn't have at 18.

Yes

He's likely still at school! I can't imagine an 18 year old checking out the laws for sex when going on holiday with their parent.

It’s crazy isn’t it - imagine if the person their child was dating was Black Muslim? Would be considered the worst of the worst for a lot (not all) of families!

My friend is Christian, Asian and Irish. Her and her family grew up in Belfast and attended an ethnically diverse church. Her (Asian Christian) mums best friend is Black. My friend once said how disappointed in her (Asian Hindu) Dad for being okay with her having a White or Asian boyfriend but saying no way to Black guys.

When i said if white, the authorities would be more helpful - its because how many times do we see some sort of blonde drug mule getting freed after intentionally carrying drugs.

Yeah sorry I was referring to the discussion about the likelihood of the mother still reporting him if he was white.

Yeah I do wonder if the government could’ve done more though. I’m very disappointed in David Lammy although I don’t expect much from him tbh!

To all those who believe that he should face jail, would you think the same had he been busted at the airport with a Pret / Costa or similar lemon and poppy seed muffin in his bag?

This situation is very sad, but having an age of consent is hardly "draconian"

No one is suggesting the age of consent is draconian. It's the sentence.

I didn't say or suggest it is all 'Tickety Boo' so please don't put words in my mouth. The FCO advise is just playing safe because some people who go to Dubai seem to think they're in Benidorm and go too far.

It is very different from our own laws around consent as there would never have been a prosecution with this age difference.

I would if I decided a holiday in the ME was something I wanted, yes. It's just too culturally different from my country to 'wing it.'