British teen Marcus Fakana has surrendered himself to authorities in Dubai as he begins a one-year prison sentence for having sex with a 17-year-old girl.
The 18-year-old, who was on holiday with his family for his father’s birthday, was held in the UAE last September after the girl’s mother reported their fling to the police.
Earlier this month, he was sentenced to a year in the city’s Al Awir prison, where inmates have reported appalling conditions.
In a statement released through campaign group Detained in Dubai ahead of his incarceration, Marcus thanked ‘everyone who has supported me throughout my fight’.
He added: ‘It’s been a long fight but nothing is hard with my Lord and saviour Jesus Christ guiding me.
‘I’m grateful for all the people who helped by donating to me and my family of faith for supporting me.’
Marcus, from Tottenham in north London, previously spoke to the group about his romance with the girl – who is also from London and was just a month away from turning 18 at the time.
He said: ‘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.’
However, her mother found chats and pictures on her phone after she arrived back in the UK and decided to contact the Emirati police.
In the UAE, it is against the law to have sex with people aged under 18 outside of marriage, and Marcus faced up to 20 years in jail.
Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai, told the Mail Online: ‘The police had discretion to charge him with a misdemeanour like ‘offensive behaviour’ or similar, but chose to charge him with the felony of sex with an underage girl, the same law a 40 year old engaging in sex with a 14 year old would have been charged with.’
Marcus and his family are now hoping for a pardon from Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum.
Detained in Dubai has also called for Foreign Secretary David Lammy and the UK’s embassy in the UAE to assist in the case.
A GoFundMe page gathering money for the family’s legal costs has raised more than £45,000.
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