Page 27 | Marcus Fakana gets prison sentence in Dubai.

Ohnonotmeagain · 2024-12-11T13:56:43+00:00

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.

Original poster

Ohnonotmeagain · 31/12/2024 11:56

NeverDropYourMooncup · 31/12/2024 11:52

Nope, they're the victim of a crime.

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I think it depends.

if they’re Muslim it’s a different law I’m told. There are also a number of caveats as to whether it’s a crime or not, and much depends on who reports it.

OP posts:

EmmaMaria · 31/12/2024 11:58

it’s not “up to the employer” in many cases. No school, employer in a profession involving vulnerable people etc will let someone with a sex offending conviction through the door, the risk is too big.

That is simply not true. Every employer makes their own decision based on the information they are given. Given the circumstances involved, it is very unlikely that any employer will consider this conviction a barrier to employment.

TriesNotToBeCynical · 31/12/2024 12:01

Jaxhog · 31/12/2024 11:56

Occasionally, yes. But our prisons are full of foreign nationals who committed crimes here, so your argument doesn't wash. I don't recall hearing that their countries are asking for them to be returned either.

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We deport them (if at all) after they've finished their sentence.

fairydustt · 31/12/2024 12:02

Jaxhog · 31/12/2024 11:56

Occasionally, yes. But our prisons are full of foreign nationals who committed crimes here, so your argument doesn't wash. I don't recall hearing that their countries are asking for them to be returned either.

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I wasn’t arguing, I was responding to someone else who said that there would be outcry if someone committed a crime here and was deported, by stating the fact that that happens all the time! I didn’t say whether I believe that to be right or wrong, I wasn’t even arguing that that fact had anything to do with this case!

Original poster

Ohnonotmeagain · 31/12/2024 12:05

EmmaMaria · 31/12/2024 11:58

it’s not “up to the employer” in many cases. No school, employer in a profession involving vulnerable people etc will let someone with a sex offending conviction through the door, the risk is too big.

That is simply not true. Every employer makes their own decision based on the information they are given. Given the circumstances involved, it is very unlikely that any employer will consider this conviction a barrier to employment.

We have positions where if you have spent time abroad and that time cannot be verified wrt. crime you absolutely cannot be employed.

no leeway, no making decisions based on the crime. If you have committed a crime you will not be employed, again, no consideration.

the nature of some jobs mean it is that black and white. Convicted of a crime, no job.

some employers may be able to use their own judgement. Many can’t. That will include positions of trust.

can you imagine if a care company employs a man with a sex conviction against minors in a care home for vulnerable teens? The nuance does not matter, they will not get professional insurance for any employee with that record.

OP posts:

Sorshpans · 31/12/2024 12:09

Ohnonotmeagain · 31/12/2024 11:56

I think it depends.

if they’re Muslim it’s a different law I’m told. There are also a number of caveats as to whether it’s a crime or not, and much depends on who reports it.

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Yeah I was doing some googling there to try and find out for sure but it’s not super clear. Dubai has some strange laws which they apply very selectively depending on who is involved and it can often lead to very perverse outcomes with victims being criminalised.

An example of that is the Irish woman charged with attempted suicide. I think she was actually a victim of domestic abuse as well which triggered the attempt, and yet they tried to charge her. I noticed that detained in Dubai had very warm words for how the Irish government successfully handled this.

amp.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/10/irish-woman-charged-with-attempted-suicide-in-dubai-has-travel-ban-lifted

fashionqueen0123 · 31/12/2024 12:16

ILoveAnnaQuay · 31/12/2024 09:30

@fashionqueen0123 I read somewhere the mum found out because she looked through her daughters phone and found texts between them

What a horrible person she is

Connected1 · 31/12/2024 12:20

Jaxhog · 31/12/2024 11:53

I feel hugely sorry for him, but he has broken the law in that country and has to pay the consequences. We wouldn't want a tourist to our country to think the law doesn't apply to them, would we?

Ireland's age of consent is 17.
Would you be happy to have a 17 year old from Britain prosecuted because they had consensual sex with a 16 year old partner in Ireland?

skymagentatwo · 31/12/2024 12:39

Marcus is a convicted criminal, cannot understand why people try to defend him.

Could not even keep his little knob in his pants until he got home.

He should have respected the country he was in, cannot see why one one would think they should show him any respect it works both ways.

Lentilweaver · 31/12/2024 12:43

skymagentatwo · 31/12/2024 12:39

Marcus is a convicted criminal, cannot understand why people try to defend him.

Could not even keep his little knob in his pants until he got home.

He should have respected the country he was in, cannot see why one one would think they should show him any respect it works both ways.

Edited

Good god. Hes a young lad who made a mistake and will suffer deeply.
I say that as an Asian who had a conservative childhood and who advised my DC against teen sex.

skymagentatwo · 31/12/2024 12:47

Lentilweaver · 31/12/2024 12:43

Good god. Hes a young lad who made a mistake and will suffer deeply.
I say that as an Asian who had a conservative childhood and who advised my DC against teen sex.

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Well from what I read, both Marcus and his family knew how strict here family were and hid their illegal actions from them.

They disrespected her family also, so what did they expect. Seems Marcus and his family showed zero respect for neither the country they were in or her family and culture so yes, he deserves it all.

Lentilweaver · 31/12/2024 12:55

I am from.the same culture as her family. No culture is worth sending a young boy who had consensual sex to jail for a year.
What a travesty.

fairydustt · 31/12/2024 13:11

skymagentatwo · 31/12/2024 12:47

Well from what I read, both Marcus and his family knew how strict here family were and hid their illegal actions from them.

They disrespected her family also, so what did they expect. Seems Marcus and his family showed zero respect for neither the country they were in or her family and culture so yes, he deserves it all.

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Be honest, are you her mum?

skymagentatwo · 31/12/2024 13:12

fairydustt · 31/12/2024 13:11

Be honest, are you her mum?

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Yes obviously im her mum 🙄

Goldenbear · 31/12/2024 13:22

skymagentatwo · 31/12/2024 12:39

Marcus is a convicted criminal, cannot understand why people try to defend him.

Could not even keep his little knob in his pants until he got home.

He should have respected the country he was in, cannot see why one one would think they should show him any respect it works both ways.

Edited

How vulgar are you.

Goldenbear · 31/12/2024 13:26

skymagentatwo · 31/12/2024 12:39

Marcus is a convicted criminal, cannot understand why people try to defend him.

Could not even keep his little knob in his pants until he got home.

He should have respected the country he was in, cannot see why one one would think they should show him any respect it works both ways.

Edited

Convicted in Dubai not Britain, seen as this is a British forum maybe that's why people are defending him.

zdcgbjm · 31/12/2024 13:26

Sorshpans · 31/12/2024 11:47

Does anyone know if under 18s who engage in sex in Dubai are guilty of a crime as well? Or is it just the 18+ person who gets charged?

I’m wondering if the 17 year old girl had still been in Dubai would she have been held responsible for anything?

Also it might appear that Britain normally do more because the Detained in Dubai organisation who have a lot of experience with these cases had strong words for the government. I wonder if they’ve said similar about the government response to other cases?

Marcus Fakana, of Tottenham, “feels abandoned by the British government and Keir Starmer”, Detained in Dubai said.
Radha Stirling, the group’s chief executive, said the sentence was an “utter disgrace” and “an embarrassment to Britain”, adding that “the UK has prioritised trade deals over people’s lives

Edited

According to the woman I heard on the radio yesterday (who I think may have been Radha Stirling) the 17 year old could also have been convicted had she still been in Dubai when it was reported.

Hope she doesn't have plans to go back there.

TheYeaSayer · 31/12/2024 13:28

skymagentatwo · 31/12/2024 12:39

Marcus is a convicted criminal, cannot understand why people try to defend him.

Could not even keep his little knob in his pants until he got home.

He should have respected the country he was in, cannot see why one one would think they should show him any respect it works both ways.

Edited

Bloody hell

Yes, the silly boy broke the law, no one is denying it, but the point is that the punishment is ridiculously disproportionate to his crime.

Goldenbear · 31/12/2024 13:31

EmmaMaria · 31/12/2024 11:53

Having an age of consent is morally repugnant? Don't be ridiculous. The UK has such laws. The fact that another country sets the age differently than we do is irrelevant. In Dubai it is 18. 18 is far from unusal, and is shared by many countries. It has bugger all to do with compassion and everything to do with the fact that we expect "foreigners" to abide by our laws and so it is to be expected that we have to abide by the laws of the country we visit. There are more than enough threads about young men in boats being criminals and dangers, without even the decency of a trial or evidence to prove that as a fact. So it seems that as ususal MN is two-faced - we can say and do what we like about people not from our country, but we expect special treatement abroad for the British.

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You are being disingenuous and know exactly what I am referring to. Referring to my comments as "ridiculous" doesn't make them so.

JHound · 31/12/2024 13:35

TriesNotToBeCynical · 31/12/2024 12:01

We deport them (if at all) after they've finished their sentence.

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Not always. The Olympian who had sex in the UK with a 12 (he was 19 at the time) was sent to the Netherlands to complete his sentence.

They released him early.

amp.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jul/27/dutch-olympian-who-raped-a-12-year-old-girl-is-not-a-paedophile-official-says

JHound · 31/12/2024 13:36

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Sorshpans · 31/12/2024 13:37

zdcgbjm · 31/12/2024 13:26

According to the woman I heard on the radio yesterday (who I think may have been Radha Stirling) the 17 year old could also have been convicted had she still been in Dubai when it was reported.

Hope she doesn't have plans to go back there.

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Yeah I’ve heard this too - somehow I think her mum who supposedly cares so deeply about upholding Dubai law wouldn’t have reported it if her daughter was still in Dubai as opposed to safely back in the UK.

Slooodie359 · 31/12/2024 13:39

Still- we only know what his family reports.

British High Commission hadn’t clarified their role and if they acted without knowing full facts. Like, are they the ones who introduced nationality as Pakistan … because they didn’t have correct info. Because nature of the crime, public will likely never know.

Girl family version of events - we don’t know what mother of minor child understood to have happened and the content of the phone messages. Possible that it was very inflammatory & upsetting. Not all hugs and kisses. There have been reports … but they are from MF family. Everything has been “poor little boy, & consent”. Girl on birth control (so this means consent? Perhaps it’s for medical reasons. Maybe she needed “morning after pill” which tells as mother story) Public have no idea if this is even true.

IMO - there is more to know than poor little boy, consent, days from birthday, already sexually active, bad mum.

The facts … lead to his conviction & incarceration. Selling your story to tabloids won’t get you set free.

Message to the world - Don’t mess about in Dubai.

RosieBurdock · 31/12/2024 13:41

Sorshpans · 31/12/2024 12:09

Yeah I was doing some googling there to try and find out for sure but it’s not super clear. Dubai has some strange laws which they apply very selectively depending on who is involved and it can often lead to very perverse outcomes with victims being criminalised.

An example of that is the Irish woman charged with attempted suicide. I think she was actually a victim of domestic abuse as well which triggered the attempt, and yet they tried to charge her. I noticed that detained in Dubai had very warm words for how the Irish government successfully handled this.

amp.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/10/irish-woman-charged-with-attempted-suicide-in-dubai-has-travel-ban-lifted

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That's great that the Irish government were able to secure her release. Although judging by some of the opinions about Marcus there will be some who think they shouldn't have intervened in another country's justice system and should have left her to rot.

skymagentatwo · 31/12/2024 13:42

Goldenbear · 31/12/2024 13:26

Convicted in Dubai not Britain, seen as this is a British forum maybe that's why people are defending him.

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So, what, are you suggesting that people convicted of crimes in other countries are quashed or do not stand if they come back to or visit the uk.

Also, this is a London based forums not a British forum, that uses web server hosting providers DSC Limited, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform many of which are not based in the UK for back-end storage.