A British woman has been sentenced to six years in prison in Hong Kong after a court ruled she fabricated a rape allegation against a British banker in an attempt to extort £100,000. The case has drawn attention for its extensive use of text message evidence and the court’s finding that the false report led to an innocent man’s arrest.
A British woman has been sentenced to six years in prison in Hong Kong after being convicted of blackmail and perverting the course of justice over what the court found was a false rape allegation against a British banker.
Isabel Rose, 26, from Hackney in east London, was found guilty after prosecutors argued that she falsely accused the man of rape in an effort to obtain £100,000 from him.
The alleged incident dates back to February 2024, when Rose travelled to Hong Kong after meeting the banker in Thailand several weeks earlier.
Following her complaint, the man was arrested by Hong Kong police and questioned over the allegation. He was later released without charge after investigators examined the evidence.
Rose was subsequently arrested and charged.
She denied both charges throughout the trial and has consistently maintained that she was sexually assaulted.
At her sentencing on Wednesday, the District Court imposed a five-year prison term for blackmail and a three-year sentence for perverting the course of justice. The judge ordered that part of the sentences run consecutively, resulting in a total prison term of six years.
A significant part of the prosecution’s case centred on WhatsApp conversations exchanged between Rose and the banker in the hours and days following the alleged incident.
According to court records, Rose sent the man a message the morning after the encounter asking, “Are you annoyed I didn’t want to have sex?”
He responded that he was not and wrote that he had been “impressed” by her restraint.
Later the same day, Rose sent another message saying, “You violated me last night, I didn’t wanna have sex.”
The banker replied by apologising, saying he had been drinking, believed he had misread her signals and acknowledged that his actions had upset her.
In another exchange, Rose told him, “You basically raped me.”
He responded that rape was “not what I’m into at all” and said he felt sick about the situation.
The conversations later shifted to financial matters.
According to the court’s written judgment, the banker initially agreed to reimburse Rose for her travel and accommodation expenses.
He transferred £5,000 and attempted to send another £5,000.
Prosecutors said Rose later demanded a much larger payment.
In one message presented during the trial, she wrote that she had received only “10% of what I’m owed.”
The banker later replied that he did not have £100,000 and had no way of paying such an amount.
Two days after the encounter, Rose reported the alleged rape to police.
The banker was arrested and questioned before investigators released him without filing charges.
Rose herself was arrested the following day after police continued investigating the case.
In delivering her verdict earlier this year, Judge Adriana Tse concluded that the evidence, particularly the digital messages exchanged between the pair, undermined Rose’s version of events.
At Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, the judge described the offences as “cruel and evil,” according to local media reports.
She said Rose had taken advantage of the man’s kindness, friendship and romantic interest while attempting to extort money from him.
The judge also described Rose as “the author of her own wrongdoing” and ruled that her police report had been both “vengeful and wicked.”
The case has attracted significant attention in Hong Kong and the UK because of the serious nature of the allegations and the consequences for both parties.
It also highlights the increasingly important role that digital communications, including text messages and social media conversations, can play as evidence in criminal investigations and court proceedings.
