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.

I am responding to somebody who asked a question. There is no need to comment.

I think you are another one just here to be on a wind up as nobody is referring to two teens in a consensual relationship as “sexually predatory”.

Come on now.

Another one to block!

Still not seeing it as a property, can certainly see it as minor daughter part of a family under parental responsibility - Child Act (UK)

Perhaps clarify with OP if you think there is some aspect of “ownership” of a minor implied.

The jail term is not for rape or sexual assault. It is for having a consensual sexual relationship with somebody under the age of consent.

Why would I clarify it with OP.
OP is not the one who said he and his family disrespected her family by him entering into a consensual relationship with her.

The poster I responded to said a consensual relationship between teens is disrespectful to her family.
That only makes sense if you view her as property of her family instead of by all accounts, a willing, consenting enthusiastic party to the relationship. So much so they were making plans to continue dating each other on the UK.

Did I say any of that?

Link us to the public court documents & transcripts? I think you will find they are not public.

We are only being given “info” from MK parents selling their story to tabloids.

UK public do not know anything but MF parents version of events.

I did read in tabloids that they had sex in a car … in a public place. It’s in texts & cctv according to tabloids. That’s also breaking the law. Is that legal in UK?

Agree @JHound is obsessed with the word property. It`s almost as though it popped into their head and cannot let it go. JHound is the only poster to keep using this phrase, how strange.

The sentence and the conviction have been made public. Nowhere in not one form of reporting on this had there been any claim of sexual assault. Every piece of reporting on the story says it was consensual and the two teens were making plans to continue seeing each other in London.

Literally this just a case of him falling the wrong side of the 18 year mark and the two months that separates him from his would be girlfriend.

His parents have not sold any stories to the tabloids please stop lying. We have information shared from Dubai authorities, lawyers and the group representing eying him “banged up abroad”.

I don’t see her as their property either.

I was questioning if the other commentator does because that is the only way it makes sense to view a girl’s choice as to whom she dates as “disrespectful to her family”.

Why do you keep mentioning OP?

OP has nothing to do with my question. It was a question for a commentator but for some reason you decided to butt in telling me to “clarify with that commentator”.

Yes. That’s why I asked!

I can only conclude that 24% of posters on this thread have no happiness in their heart. Very sad, I feel sorry for them.

Happy New year! 😁

Your point was perfectly clear.

Yes I think there are a few non genuine posters who are simply bored!

Miserable comes to mind.

And banged up abroad …. Is what? A trusted source of facts and balanced information - vetted & source & fact checked? Are you sure they aren’t shaking the tin cup to help “support” MF?

Your naïveté about where the “facts” are coming from, is really sweet.

Is it not?

Surely the only info any of us have to go on is what is being reported in the media. I’m sure, if there was a whiff of sexual assault the mother would have reported that and Dubai authorities would have jailed him for life! Not sure why that part of the story is being questioned in this context.

I feel sorry for MF, what a horrible situation to find yourself in after a silly holiday romance. Personally though, I would not allow my black son to have sec with a non black girl whilst on holiday in Dubai, especially one that was sneaking around, (I wouldn’t go Dubai anyway) it sounds like a recipe for disaster.

I feel very sorry for the girl also, if your own mother would go to such lengths to stop you making choices about your own body, I can only imagine how difficult your life must be. The whole thing is very sad and reminds we again why I would not go on a fun holiday to such a conservative country.

Surely the only info any of us have to go on is what is being reported in the media.

Yup, and the Mail's reporting includes quite a lot of info from a court reporter.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14207477/full-story-British-teen-Dubai-jail-holiday-fling-Marcus-fakana.html

I think everyone is being trolled, in this thread, by a sockpuppetier.

Ffs. Yes he can have a nice year out. Maybe spend it in the gym or becoming a carpenter.

He's in prison in Dubai, it could very well be the end of the world for him.

@LessonsinChemistryandLove

I would not allow my black son to have sec with a non black girl whilst on holiday in Dubai, especially one that was sneaking around,

Same. Racists are deranged and you never know what they may do.Too big a risk. My philosophy was always that if you have to date in secret then there is never a good reason so just sack them off. I guess his parents are good, honest, trusting people - sadly.

Side note and unrelated: I have just started reading Lessons in Chemistry.

I like it so far!

Yes people keep missing the girl’s mom
first made a false rape accusation before settling on the age of consent laws. And to pretend that for some reason all the reporting on the case is colluding to hide a serious offence is silly.

True

Is it a harsh sentence - yes.

But we cannot tell other countries how to run their legal system, we wouldn't like it if they were telling us how to run ours.

And it's not like it's an egregious law. Men having sex with girls under the age of consent is a crime in most countries and in some of them you can go to prison for it.

People having sex with underaged people is a crime in most countries.

It’s not a law for men alone. And in many countries Romeo and Juliet exemptions exist officially and unofficially.

I had a scary experience a few years ago during a layover in Dubai. My European airline tried to bump me off the flight and send me across the Middle East adding hours extra onto an already long flight and with a v short connection time that could mean I could easily miss one of the flights. I kicked up a huge fuss, while staying polite, at the check-in desk and threatened to tweet the parent company of the airline, asking why they had overbooked the flight.
i was only passing through Dubai and had no idea that a tweet could land me in jail. The man on the check in desk threatened to call the police and said I would be arrested for a social media post even though it was to a non UAE company.
Fortunately all was ok in the end but while I knew social media rules were tough i assumed it referred to criticism of the UAE not European companies. It does show how easy it is to fall foul of the rules even for someone who has travelled a lot.

One reason I try to avoid Dubai - almost everything about it is awful - the consumerism and shops (I even preferred Iran on that ground - less obssessed with money and that is saying something as Iran is a pretty awful regime too - I did some work in both countries briefly); the way some of them treat servants imported from abroad there; the sexism and much else.

However as a general point it is important to know laws abroad particularly over sexual activities or even just what you wear eg we were recently in the Caribbean and before we went I reminded my sons it is unlawful to wear camouflague clothing there - even just trousers with that pattern on them. Age of consents and age for marriage vary hugely not just in different countries but over the years eg you could marry at 16 in England until very recently and now it is 18 but it remains 16 in Scotland. In the UK we regard men as statutory rapists if the man has sex with a 15 year old even if she looked 16 and even if she was madly in love with him so it is not beyond the bounds of possibility Dubai might have something similar - if the girl is under 18 even if she consents it is not a consent in law just as a 15 year old girl in the UK cannot consent to sex even if she really wants it and really loves the man,

In the UK we regard men as statutory rapists if the man has sex with a 15 year old even if she looked 16 and even if she was madly in love with him so it is not beyond the bounds of possibility Dubai might have something similar - if the girl is under 18 even if she consents it is not a consent in law just as a 15 year old girl in the UK cannot consent to sex even if she really wants it and really loves the man

Statutory rape does not exist in the uk. In addition we do not prosecute all cases of having sex with a person under 15. If a relationship is deemed age appropriate with no vulnerabilities or position of power then a 16 year old having sex with a 15 year old, or a 15 year old and a 14 year old, would not be taken any further.

the law is not easy to understand. We see on here all the time people saying about “statutory rape” and “pressing charges”, when you can do neither in the UK. Yet posters here seem to expect an 18 year old lad to have detailed knowledge of Dubai’s very complicated laws on morality?