Marcus Fakana sentenced to a year in prison

[Zippedydodah]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles]]]]
I cannot believe that this lad is going to spend a year in prison- yes, I know that’s the law there, he should have known better etc, etc
I hope that the girl’s mother is ashamed of her actions.
I don’t want to think what the impact will be on Marcus 😥

I mean it does sound fair that they probably aren’t spending time on actual fraudsters!

Especially if you start raping a minor of another faith, behind their parents back.

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You don't know when to stop, do you?

Absolutely disgusting isn’t it and the true colours and agenda are screaming out now.

I honestly hope that poster is on a wind up because the thought someone really thinks that way is far worse.

It’s a shame MN doesn’t offer the function to mute or block posters.

I have no desire to see ignorant racist posts

If they did that we would only see about ten different usernames!

They say that they have helped 20,000 people over 16 years, which seems very high for a small organization, particularly a highly selective one. Can you give some more insight? If they aren't leading media campaigns in a case, what does their role involve? More like a referral service?

This was the point of my first post - there’s been so many co flooring reports of what happens (not something we are used to in this country) it’s hard to know what’s true. I’ve heard varying reports - that the mum found out because the daughter confessed at home but also because she found the pill in her suitcase. That she reported to the embassy, but also that she reported to the police. That she reported when in the country try, but also when she got home.

However what we DO know from police reports is that it was reported as forced rape, and that CCTV of the hotel shows her entering his hotel so they dropped it to statutory rape. Depressing that they consider she can’t have been raped because she entered a hotel room.

ive never heard anything about CCTV in a car park, again varying stories seem to be a symptom of this case. Which is why I think I just can’t believe the story of the boy’s family. Or anything really

I would say that the report was a wicked vindictive act perpetrated by a person who was clued up and cunning enough to get her own child to a place of safety first because she would have been equally culpable.

Why would you assume this?

Are you in favour of the medieval laws in the country in question

no which is why I’d sooner cut my toes off than visit it. I’m also surprised anyone thinks the laws of a country should be flexible because tourists don’t agree with them. He broke the law and he pays the penalty. He has had a lenient sentence by UAE standards. This is not an injustice. It just makes people feel uncomfortable because it could happen to their sons and is perhaps a stark reminder to use the World Wide Web for what it was intended before visiting any country

I was commenting on what you were saying, which was that he had to be more than 19 given he was born in the 1st quarter of 2006. My response was that he might be nearly 19 now but he wasn't when it happened and that the age difference is minimal.

Some of their work is Interpol red notice removal, for those who were luckier than Marcus Fakana and were able to flee Dubai before being tried, convicted and sentenced for crimes that wouldn't be a police matter in their home country. That involves writing a submission to Interpol. It's probably a bit more work than a standard legal letter, but it's comparable.

It is mind bogging to me that it is not an option. I wonder what their reasoning is (I have seen the explanation but I think there must be a genuine one).

Maybe it is too expensive to maintain.

I would completely agree that adult drug smugglers who end up sentenced to death in some of these countries have only themselves to blame. I totally accept that countries have the right to set their own laws, irrespective of whether those laws would be considered barbaric to my liberal western standards.
I also think that it’s a great pity that a ‘holiday romance’ between two such young people involved full sex in an underground car park.
I still think it was evil of the girl’s mother to do what she did and that the strict application of the letter of the law was inappropriate in the circumstances. Hopefully it will impact their tourist trade if they continue to show their true colours to all the western tourists who think it’s a safe place to holiday.

No wonder we have a generation like Marcus, who think they can do any thing they like in any country with people defending him purley on his charecteristics.

So far we have had numerous times though out this thread her mother is (xxxxxx <- insert any vitrol here) and a racist because she is Hindu/Sikh.
Her mother reported him just bcause she is a racist.
Dubai Found him guilty because they are racist.
Any poster that thinks he is guilty racist.
Suggests that Marcus and his family should have more respect for other cultures, religions, communities and their values racist.
Marcus should take accountabilty for know laws and not abusing minors racist.

How about save the faux outrage for real racism, as it harms real claims of raceism and you wonder why the likes of Farage and Reform are being boosted in the polls.

Where’s the evidence they had sex in a car park? I imagine if this was true he’d be serving a much harsher sentence considering this is a serious crime there

I don’t think there is any evidence. In fact I think it’s the opposite- the evidence shows nothing on the CCTV therefore they did not have sex in the car in the car park.

I don’t like the narrative that he ‘jumped her bones’. We don’t have all the details but from what I’ve read she sounds just as in to him and this was a fully consensual relationship. Rather than him being a randy 18 year old who couldn’t keep it in his pants.

Ok where is the car park claim from then?

I can also assume he is a rapist but it’s a bit pointless because we don’t even know

No, it's Marcus' case that they had consensual sex on 3 occasions, including in the car.

This is what a police captain is quoted (in the Mail) as saying about the CCTV footage:

"Yes, by reviewing the recordings, it was shown that the victim entered the accused’s room at around four in the morning, and when they were visiting the parking lot where he parked his car."

It has been reported that they had sex in a rental car - or at least he said they did.

Not sure where the public sex allegation came from but it was not part of the case against him which is solely the charge of him being 18 and having sex with a 17 year old.

I didn't say he was 19 at the time - I posted;

If he was born in Haringey in 2006 then his birth date is recorded as being in the first quarter of the year so he could be 19 quite soon.

Today you posted;

RockOrAHardplace · Today 17:40
But in the scale of things isn't that irrelevant? 2 months or a year - the age discrepancy isn't significant - that is the point being made!

To which I replied;

Then why have numerous posters on this thread claimed that Marcus 'was only two months older than the girl' if that detail is unimportant? Also the claim that they are in the same school year. Similar emphasis by Radha Stirling from Detained in Dubai, who tweeted her version of the age difference (ONE MONTH) in capital letters at least once. It's clearly significant in terms of public sympathy and political pressure.

I, like everyone else here, have no idea what actually happened between him and her so there is no point is pretending that any of us do, but using the phrase "rather than him being a randy 18 year old who couldn’t keep it in his pants" when talking about rape is really bizarre and offensive to literally everyone with a brain.
You can support him all you want, he may be completely innocent, but reducing rape to that is disguising.

Why would you assume somebody is a rapist when no claims have been made to that effect anywhere?

He is not facing a rape charge. Nobody has claimed it was rape. It was “consensual” sex between two teens but as he was 18 and she was 17 it was against the law in Dubai.

Reframing that as “rape” does a disservice to rape victims imo.

I think the talk about him being a randy 18 year old who could not keep it in his pants does them both a disservice to be honest as they both have agency and made a mutual choice to have sex with each other. People want to give all the power to the male in this scenario which is odd.

I think you've misread.

He was accused of "forcible rape" and was determined not to have committed that, but was guilty of the lesser charge of sex with a minor (under local laws).