British woman jailed for blackmail after accusing banker of rape in Hong Kong

What the report says

BBC World News reports that Isabel Rose, a 26-year-old British woman from Hackney, east London, has been sentenced to six years in prison in Hong Kong after being convicted of blackmail and perverting the course of justice. The case followed her allegation that a British banker raped her after she travelled to Hong Kong to visit him in January 2024. The man, whose identity was withheld, was arrested after her police report but later released without charge.

According to the BBC, Rose was sentenced in Hong Kong’s District Court on Wednesday, 22 July 2026, after being convicted in March. Local press cited by the BBC reported that Judge Adriana Tse imposed five years for blackmail and three years for perverting the course of justice, with part of the terms running consecutively. Prosecutors said Rose had invented the rape allegation as part of an effort to obtain £100,000, or about $134,000, from the man. Rose denied the charges and has continued to say she was raped.

The BBC report says the prosecution relied partly on WhatsApp messages exchanged after the encounter at the man’s apartment on 1 February 2024. Court documents described messages in which Rose accused the man of violating her and later discussed money. The written judgment said the man transferred £5,000 and attempted to send another £5,000 before later saying he could not pay £100,000.

At sentencing, the judge said Rose had exploited the man and made a false report to police, according to the South China Morning Post as cited by the BBC. The case is significant because it involved competing claims of sexual assault and extortion, and ended with a Hong Kong court treating the rape report itself as part of a criminal offence.