BRITISH WOMAN SENTENCED TO SIX YEARS IN HONG KONG OVER BLACKMAIL CLAIM

Isabel Rose, from Hackney in east London, has been sentenced to six years in prison by Hong Kong's District Court after being found guilty of blackmail and perverting the course of public justice. Judge Adriana Tse stated it was "crystal clear" that Rose, aged 26, had demanded £100,000 (HK$1.05 million) from a man she had accused of rape. Rose was sent to Tai Lam Correctional Institution, Hong Kong's oldest maximum security women's prison. Her legal team had sought leniency on the grounds of her lack of previous convictions and her status as a foreigner in Hong Kong, but Judge Tse rejected the appeal.

Rose claimed in 2024 that she was raped by a man in his apartment in Mid-Levels, an affluent residential area in Hong Kong, during the early hours of 1 February 2024. The man, referred to as X during trial, was arrested on suspicion of rape, but was released without charge. Rose was arrested two days later on suspicion of blackmail after allegedly demanding the £100,000 payment. During her March trial, she faced an additional charge of perverting the course of justice, with prosecutors alleging she had filed a false rape report. Judge Tse described the accused man as "honest, credible and reliable", whilst characterising Rose as "dishonest, uncredible and unreliable".

Judge Tse handed down a sentence of five years for blackmail and three years for perverting justice, with one year to be served consecutively, totalling six years. Before her conviction, Rose had been unable to work or leave Hong Kong for two years. The man she accused was never charged in connection with the rape allegation.