An 18-year-old Briton, Marcus Fakana, of Tottenham, North London, has been convicted and sentenced to a one year jail term for having sex with an underage 17-year-old British girl in Dubai.
Fakana began a secretive romance in September with another Londoner, who is now 18, while both were on holiday with their families.
A report by the BBC says after returning home and seeing pictures and chats between the pair, the girl’s mother reported the relationship to Dubai police, who arrested Fakana at his hotel. It says sex with someone under 18 is illegal in Dubai.
He has handed himself in to authorities in Dubai to begin a one-year jail sentence, a charity says.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it was supporting a British man in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Fakana had been on bail and staying in temporary accommodation in Dubai since his arrest in September. His parents had to return to London to resume their jobs in a warehouse and as a cleaner to help pay for their son’s accommodation.