Marcus Fakana sends message thanking ‘everyone who has supported me throughout my fight’. A British teenager sentenced to one year in a Dubai jail over a holiday romance with a 17-year-old girl has handed himself in to begin his sentence. Marcus Fakana, 18, was convicted of having sex with a 17-year-old while on holiday. He began a secretive romance with the girl – who is now 18 – in September while both were on holiday with their families.
![[Al Awir prison is notorious]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/13/15/GettyImages-1214459502.jpg)
Mr Fakana was led away from his family to his cell in the general wing of Al Awir prison. Before being taken away, he said: “Thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout my fight. “It’s been a long fight but nothing is hard with my Lord and saviour Jesus Christ guiding me.
![[Marcus Fakana met a fellow Londoner at his family’s Dubai hotel]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/20/16/f2fe6325f08de6b0610c72741c2eaeffY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM0NzkzMzA3-2.25934572.jpg)
“I’m grateful for all the people who helped by donating to me and my family of faith for supporting me.”. According to campaign group Detained in Dubai, who has been representing Mr Fakana throughout his trial, allege that after returning to the UK and seeing pictures and chats, the girl's mother reported the relationship to Dubai police, who then arrested Mr Fakana at his hotel.
Mr Fakana, from Tottenham, north London, claims he did not know the girl was months younger than him when they met. “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”, Mr Fakana previously said.
