The British teenager facing 20 years in prison in Dubai over a holiday romance with a 17-year-old girl has been deliberately victimised by local police who recorded his age a year older than it really is – and said his nationality is Pakistani so that he is treated more harshly, it has been dramatically claimed.
Marcus Fakana, 18, a construction apprentice from Tottenham, is currently locked in a cell in the UAE awaiting sentence for having underage sex with a 17-year-old girl from London who was holidaying with her parents – something that would not have been criminal in the UK.
Now the campaigning group which first revealed his arrest has claimed that Marcus has been deliberately targeted by Emirates police to try to ensure that he faces the biggest sentence possible.
Their claim is based on two anomalies in prosecution case notes that they believe were made deliberately: Marcus’s age and nationality are both wrongly recorded.
Instead of 18, Marcus had been listed as a year older which would mean he could be referred to a higher court in Dubai which is empowered to levy a heavier sentence – akin to being sent to a Crown Court rather than Magistrates in the UK.
And his nationality had been described as Pakistani rather than British which, campaigners say, in practice means he would face a tougher sentence.
The pressure group Detained in Dubai said Marcus, who is due to go on trial on December 9th, believes both these mistakes – which have now been amended – were purposely made by local police.
Radha Stirling, founder of Detained in Dubai who is assisting the Fakana family said: ‘Marcus told them his age, yet they noted it as 19 years of age. Rather than a small gap between the two, it looks far worse being a two year gap.
‘That has now been corrected and the court will see that.’
She went on: ‘The UAE is racist and it was deliberate that his nationality was put down as Pakistani as to the court this would appear to be much worse than British.’
Marcus’s family have raised nearly £27,000 from a GoFundMe account to pay legal fees and his accommodation.
Ms Sterling said Marcus has been ‘too afraid’ to go out while staying on his own in Dubai in a rented flat.
His family put up bail of £2,600 so that he did not spend any time in jail. Marcus was held initially in Dubai’s ‘notorious’ Al Barsha Police Station for several days.
Ms Stirling said: ‘I am hoping that when he comes to trial he will be fined and then deported, but his lawyer is not so confident.’
The teen had been in Dubai with his parents for a family reunion and to celebrate his father’s birthday when he struck up the friendship with the girl.
Under UAE law only tourists aged over 18 are legally allowed to sleep together.
The holiday romance – with both teens staying at hotels with their parents – lasted ten days.
Since returning to the UK the girl, who has not been identified, has turned 18.
The ‘strict’ mother of the girl contacted police in Dubai on their return after finding messages and photos from Marcus on her phone.
The police investigation revealed that the sex between the pair was consensual after they examined all the messages the pair had exchanged during their time together.
They have also recovered CCTV footage from Dubai hotels that show the couple together.
It was on the teen’s initial arrest that his age was put down on the charge sheet as 19 years of age meaning the gap with the girl was two years and not a few months.
His nationality was also written down as Pakistani despite presenting his British passport.
He left school this summer and is on an apprenticeship scheme for work in the construction industry.
His family released a statement late last night which said: ‘We are praying for the day we can be returned with Marcus.’
‘We’ve sought assistance from Foreign secretary David Lammy to ensure his right to upheld and we ask HH Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, to please let our boy come home.
‘This ordeal has caused us terrible emotional and financial strain and every day is an emotional battle.’
Setting up a GoFundMe page to raise money for legal fees to bring him home, Marcus’ family added: ‘What was meant to be a happy time has turned into a nightmare for him, our family, and our friends.
‘This has happened as a result of someone trying to misuse UAE law against him.
‘He is being charged with a crime that could lead to imprisonment for up to 20 years.
‘He is only 18 years old, very scared, and his mental health is starting to decline.’
Dubai has only recently reformed its laws on sex outside of marriage for tourists, but upholds a strict Islamic legal system, and has no firm ruling on age of consent.
But under local law, a child is defined as a person under 18 years of age. The girl was just months away from turning 18 when the pair met in August.
Marcus has previously told how the couple had planned to see each other when they got home.
Marcus said: ‘We had a wonderful time together. We really liked each other but she was secretive with her family because they were strict.
‘My parents knew about our relationship but she couldn’t tell hers. She had to meet me without telling them it was to see a boy.
‘When she left, I couldn’t wait to see her again when I got home. Then suddenly, police knocked on our hotel door.
‘They said they were taking me in for questioning but wouldn’t tell me why. I couldn’t imagine what for. I was frightened and my parents were terrified.’
The pair had tried to spend as much time as they could together while abroad, and hoped to get to know each other better when back in London.
The girl left Dubai first and they had arranged to meet up.
‘He [Marcus] was told his girlfriend’s mother had reported the relationship to authorities in Dubai after she had arrived back in London,’ said Ms Stirling, a human rights advocate.
Her organisation offers confidential legal help to people facing civil and criminal legal trouble in the UAE.
‘This is clearly a very strict mother to involve police in a private matter that is completely legal in the country where she lives and where the children have grown up,’ Ms Stirling warned.
‘Perhaps she wasn’t aware that she triggered the possibility of a young man of only 18 spending the next 20 years in prison.’
Marcus and his family are now calling on the British Foreign Secretary to help him.
‘Dubai police have the power to drop the case against Marcus and let him come home,’ Ms Stirling said.
‘This is not something we want to do to young people and we ask David Lammy MP to convey this message to his counterparts in the UAE.’
The UAE has only recently implemented changes allowing tourists to have sex outside of marriage – as well as more lax regulations on alcohol and vaping.
A British couple were jailed for kissing in public in 2010, and ultimately deported for violating the country’s decency laws.
Despite changes to the law, Ms Stirling warns that parents will soon ‘be scared to take their older teenagers on vacation with them where they could end up losing their lives over behaviour that’s completely legal in their own countries’.
Dubai Public Prosecution said in a statement shared with MailOnline: ‘The case was initiated in response to a complaint filed by the mother of a 17-year-old British girl.
‘The girl, a tourist visiting Dubai, is not a resident of the UAE. Under UAE law, the girl is legally classified as a minor, and in accordance with procedures recognised internationally, her mother – being the legal guardian – filed the complaint.
‘Dubai’s legal system is committed to protecting the rights of all individuals and ensuring impartial judicial proceedings.
‘The next court hearing has been scheduled for 9 December at the request of the defendant’s legal counsel, contrary to what has been reported by some media.
‘The media should avoid speculation and allow the judiciary to carry out its responsibilities within its clear legal framework.’
