A British woman has been sentenced to six years in prison in Hong Kong after a court found she fabricated a rape allegation against a British banker in order to extort money from him. Isabel Rose, 26, from south-east London, was convicted of blackmail and perverting the course of public justice. District Judge Adriana Tse handed down five years for the blackmail charge and three years for perverting justice, with one year to be served consecutively. The judge described Rose's conduct as "wicked" and "evil", saying she had "not shown an iota of remorse" and that the rape allegation was "completely fabricated".
The case began when Rose travelled to Hong Kong on 31 January 2024 after meeting the unnamed banker — whose identity was withheld by the court for legal reasons — while on holiday in Thailand a month earlier. He invited her to visit and paid for her flights. Rose says she was raped in his apartment approximately 12 hours after her arrival and reported the assault to police on 3 February. The man was initially arrested and questioned but released without charge. Rose was arrested the following day. She remained in Hong Kong on bail for nearly two years while awaiting trial, unable to return to the United Kingdom.
At the heart of the prosecution's case were WhatsApp messages exchanged between the pair in the hours after the alleged assault. In one exchange, Rose wrote: "You violated me last night, I didn't wanna have sex," to which the man replied: "I'm really deeply sorry, I was slightly drunk and I misread your signals, it's no excuse and I know it doesn't make it any better." The man later told the court he had interpreted "violated" as referring to an emotional, not physical, transgression. Prosecutors argued the messages, combined with Rose's escalating financial demands — beginning with £5,000 and rising to a demand of £100,000 — constituted blackmail. Rose maintained the money was compensation offered voluntarily by the man to cover her travel, accommodation and medical costs. Forensic evidence to establish rape was inconclusive, and the judge — in a 300-page judgment — accepted the man's account and rejected Rose's.
Rose has consistently maintained her innocence, and her supporters argue the verdict raises troubling questions about how courts assess the behaviour of sexual assault complainants. Ngozi Fulani, founder of Sistah Space, a London charity supporting women of African and Caribbean heritage affected by domestic abuse, said: "We live in a world where people think there is a structured way to respond to rape and sexual assault. That is not the case. What has happened here is that a victim has been blamed for being a victim." Rose's spokesperson, Radd Seiger, said the legal team would consider all available options, including an appeal.
Rose's mother, Aysha Bell, who spent much of the past two years in Hong Kong supporting her daughter, had separately reported the alleged rape to London's Metropolitan Police. UK law permits British police to investigate sexual offences committed abroad involving British nationals. The Met opened a file and named the banker as a suspect, but said it had been "unable to pursue relevant lines of enquiry" due to a lack of jurisdiction. The UK Foreign Office confirmed it was supporting a British national in Hong Kong and was in contact with her family and local authorities. The family says they have spent tens of thousands of pounds fighting the case.