Driver admits killing teen in crash just months after he was freed from Dubai jail
Marcus Fakana spent around a year in prison before being freed thanks to a royal pardon from Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
A driver has admitted causing the death of a British teenager in a car crash in north London, shortly after the 19-year-old's release from a Dubai jail.
Marwaan Mohamed Huseen, 20, pleaded guilty after crashing a BMW into a lorry during a Metropolitan Police pursuit.
The collision, in Tottenham in the early hours of October 3 last year, killed passenger Marcus Fakana, 19. Fakana had recently been freed from a Dubai jail term for a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl. A second passenger in the vehicle was also seriously hurt.
At Wood Green Crown Court on Friday, Huseen appeared by videolink from HMP Pentonville to plead guilty to causing the death of Mr Fakana by dangerous driving.
Huseen, who admits being uninsured and unlicensed at the time, also pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving to another of the passengers in the BMW.
The crash happened just three months after Mr Fakana, from Tottenham, north London, was set free from a prison in Dubai.
He had been with his parents in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the summer 2024 when, at the age of 18, he had a holiday romance with a 17-year-old girl from London.
The teenager spent around a year in prison before being freed thanks to a royal pardon from Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
At the time of the fatal car crash, the Met Police said officers were attempting to stop a “vehicle of interest” in Pretoria Road, Tottenham, and after a short pursuit they temporarily lost sight of the vehicle.
When officers then drove in to The Roundway, they found the vehicle had been involved in a crash.
“Police were on patrol at around 00.52hrs when they attempted to stop a vehicle of interest on Pretoria Road, N18,” Scotland Yard said in a statement.
“After pursuing the vehicle for around 60 seconds, police temporarily lost sight before locating the vehicle on The Roundway, N17, where it had been involved in a collision.
“Officers were supported by the London Ambulance Service and the London Air Ambulance, and a 19-year-old man was taken to hospital where he sadly died.
“He has since been named as Marcus Fakana from Tottenham.”
Huseen, of Argyle Road, Tottenham, has been in custody since his arrest at the scene of the crash.
Judge Emma Deacon KC remanded him back into custody on Friday after the guilty pleas.
He is due to submit a basis for his guilty pleas, and a sentencing date will be set at a hearing on February 27.
Huseen did not enter a plea to a third charge of driving without insurance and a licence, but the court was told he admits that he did not have a valid licence or insurance at the time of the crash.
After Mr Fakana’s death, Radha Sterling, chief executive of campaign group Detained in Dubai which had lobbied for his release from prison, said she was “heartbroken” by the news.
“Marcus spent the majority of this year in a Dubai prison which no doubt caused him long-lasting mental anguish”, she said.
“It’s sad that of all of 2025, he was only free for the three months from the 3rd of July until the 3rd of October.”
He had been reported to the authorities in the UAE after the girl’s mother saw pictures and messages on her phone.
In Dubai, if an adult has a sexual relationship with a person under 18, they can be prosecuted for having a sexual relationship with a minor.
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