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 😥

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/13/older-white-people-use-term-coloured-not-necessarily-racist/

https://metro.co.uk/2021/04/14/judge-says-term-coloured-is-outdated-but-acceptable-to-people-of-a-certain-age-14406784/

🤗

Vile. Just vile

@MNHQ can you look into this please.

Older white people that one link from 2021 really proves fuck all - no one who has mixed race children as you’re closing would ever use that term.

Anyone using such an outdated term who isn’t about 80 has racist overtones. Anyone with half a brain knows it’s considered offensive by black peoples and has been for many years

So you're telling us you’re either 80 or a bigot.?

I was with you until you got to "that the strict application of the letter of the law was inappropriate in the circumstances" . The point is that it is their law, a complaint was made, they were lenient on him. Had they ignored it, we would have equally been on their backs about not protecting our citizens and applying their law. I think they had to do what they did. They could have sentenced him to a lot longer. I don't like it but their law, is their law and you have to accept it and he is guilty of the crime he is accused of committing - in that country.

Its a safe place to holiday if you follow the rules.

I don't know enough to say whether it was racially motivated, but that seems to be an assumption by many on here.

I think we all agree that a vindictive mother, cunningly left the country and came home to safety. It appears the mother initially made allegations of rape and got him arrested. Had she still been in the country she could have been arrested for making false accusations as it was consensual. She has ruined a young mans life out of spite at the very least.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-30999175.amp

Seeing as bigots are sharing links to defend their casual racism I’ll share this one

Though most decent humans don’t need google to try and defend using racist language.

Some people can be so wilfully ignorant….

Your response is the best kind to people like that!

Might it be time to simply start disregarding illiterate, goady "truth warriors" who can't spell for toffee, and who post in a triumphalist style redolent of a toddler holding up their potty for the adult to inspect their latest production? I'd suggest such offerings do not merit the brain space required to read them, let alone respond.

If anybody believes that clearly racist Mumsnetter has “coloured kids” I have a bridge in London to sell them!

"Had she still been in the country she could have been arrested for making false accusations as it was consensual."

Consent can be irrelevant in certain circumstances

E.g

Influence of drugs and alcohol
Mental disabilities
Other party in position of authority etc
Other party under the age of consent.

In this case the girl was, by law, too young to consent to sex in the country it occured in, so this is "statutory" rape and not a "false" accusation.

Many posters seem to think that the mother of the girl vindictively reported this due to the boy being black, thereby being racist.
We've no way of knowing if this was a factor. Is this an assumption people are making?

I read it in one of the newspaper reports. He had hired a red car and admitted that’s where they had sex. There was also a lot of info on cell phones, that the mother found , going through daughter’s phone. If the girl wanted to keep it secret, she really should have deleted stuff from her phone. Anyway, he gave himself over to the authorities to begin his sentence and is hoping for a pardon. There’s a gofundme page, too

Posters who think that the race of the young man was not a factor in the mother reporting him to the Dubai authorities are either very naive or wilfully obtuse.
I worked as an Employment Lawyer for many years and I can tell you that a fair amount of discrimination cases involved South Asians who had discriminated against black people .
It is a taboo in some communities to date outside . However, having a relationship with a young black man would have been regarded as a disgraceful act.
On a personal level , I have had South Asian friends say that their parents would probably be able to ‘tolerate ‘ them embarking on a relationship with a white partner but not with someone who is black
I am not saying that the mother wouldn’t have reported an Asian or white man, but she probably felt more ‘comfortable ‘ reporting a black man
The mother must have some regrets because now she has been identified on social media The public are aware of the fact that her daughter has been involved in a sexual relationship which would be a source of embarrassment for her .

I agree with your sentiments however, how do you know he’s working class? You are not the first person to say this in this thread as someone else also said it is not so much racism that the mother reported him, but rather, a classism issue. It appears a lot of people on this site seem to think All Black people are ALL working class. Simply not true and it is prevalent across this site. Such narrow thinking and I see it so often on here.

Don't think anyone is disputing that.

However we are use to a different justice system in the UK - not saying it's perfect. But if this was a 16yo boy and 15yo girl it would be considered not worth pursuing in public interest if consensual and otherwise an equal relationship.

The issue here is that the mother of the girl made a vexatious complaint of rape when it was consensual sex when she returned to the UK on behalf of her Dd directly to the authorities in Dubai.

This wasn't a case reported of a sexual predator for the safety of the public.

This was a case reported out of spite as a mum couldn't accept her DD was having sex.

If she had been 18 and him 17 and his mum had reported her for rape having returned to the UK.

Would posters have the same opinion about her forever being branded a sex offender. It could mean her children are always at risk of being taken away - even from birth etc.

"The issue here is that the mother of the girl made a vexatious complaint of rape when it was consensual sex when she returned to the UK on behalf of her Dd directly to the authorities in Dubai."

Well in Dubai it was was , wasn't it?

He broke the law there, which was a risk.

Perhaps he was ignorant of the law or expected the girl would keep it secret, so saw it as a calculated risk. Most people in the UK would not have reported it but he exposed himself to the mothers wrath....

Had they ignored it, we would have equally been on their backs about not protecting our citizens and applying their law. I think they had to do what they did. They could have sentenced him to a lot longer. I don't like it but their law, is their law and you have to accept it and he is guilty of the crime he is accused of committing - in that country

I don’t think most people from liberal western countries would be ‘on their backs’ for failing to send an 18 year old to prison where he’s extremely likely to suffer human rights abuses for the crime of having consensual sex with an almost 18 year old girl. We’d expect their authorities to protect tourists from actual crimes which would impact their own safety and well-being. They didn’t have to do what they did at all. They could have taken the full context into account, charged him with a misdemeanour and deported him. That would still have been harsh in the circumstances.

Its a safe place to holiday if you follow the rules

They deliberately give western tourists the impression that their strict religious based rules don’t apply to them.

"I don’t think most people from liberal western countries would be ‘on their backs’ for failing to send an 18 year old to prison where he’s extremely likely to suffer human rights abuses for the crime of having consensual sex with an almost 18 year old girl"

Clearly, they are not applying the laws to appease people from liberal western countries. They do so to maintain the rule of law for their own citizens and their own highly conservative society...

To be fair sex offenders in this country are also "highly likely to suffer human rights abuses" in prison

Something similar HAS actually happened in the UK but during the actual trial phase.

Person in Scotland went to trial a few years ago accused of raping a 15 yo girl when he was 16. He was also charged with other crimes. He was acquitted of the rape charge but convicted of having sex with a minor and sentenced accordingly. He is now serving a prison sentence for that and other crimes.

He must be one of the few people in the UK to have a conviction for having sex with a minor when he was only a few months older than the victim. But his defence against the charge of rape was that sex had indeed taken place and that it was consensual. That was a crime due to her age and hence he was duly convicted.

It would be interesting to see if something similar was the rationale for the conviction in this case.

Unfortunately it serms that to the authorities in Dubai, and the court of public opinion, there is no difference between a 40 year old having sex with a 12 year old and a 18 year old having sex with a 17y 11m year old. I guess it depends if you believe that nuance exists. Some people don't, and since that is so pervasive I guess we have to accept it as valid.

"Unfortunately it serms that to the authorities in Dubai, and the court of public opinion, there is no difference between a 40 year old having sex with a 12 year old and a 18 year old having sex with a 17y 11m year old"

A ridiculous example. " Nuance " exists clearly but there is "nuance" in that Dubai is a far less liberal society with very different societal norms and enforced the laws differently for their very own reasons.

Everyone's saying that the girl wouldn't have been in trouble if she'd still been in the country because she was underaged, but I can't find anything from a quick Google that confirms that as fact.

This isn't like English law where sex (not normally illegal) with a minor is specifically criminalised to protect the young person.

In the UAE something which would normally be illegal (sex outside marriage) has been decriminalised if it's between two unmarried people over the age of 18. More like the way that gay male sex was legalised by exception here in the 1960s. So it's possible that both parties are committing a criminal offence. Depends on the precise law.

😂

Marcus himself has said his mum is a cleaner and his dad works in a warehouse. So to be fair, nobody is "assuming" he is working class.

Eta: this is what he said back in November.

"They earn a humble living, my mother is a cleaner and my dad works in a warehouse," he told Detained in Dubai.

"They saved up for this one-off holiday and they have now used all of their savings."

https://news.sky.com/story/marcus-fakana-londoner-18-held-in-dubai-for-having-sex-with-17-year-old-british-girl-13257492

@Butchyrestingface Was that not the case where a rape had actually taken place but Scotland’s sentencing guidelines and the rapists age meant that he wasn’t imprisoned. Or was there another case?

Different case entirely. This one is doing a long stretch, and for multiple crimes I must stress.