A woman from the UK has been sentenced to six years in jail following her conviction in a blackmail case involving a £100,000 rape claim in Hong Kong.
Identified as Isabel Rose from Hackney, east London, she was found guilty of blackmail and obstructing justice by District Court Judge Adriana Tse. The court determined that Rose, aged 26, had demanded £100,000 (HK$1.05 million) from the man she accused of rape.
Rose, aged 26, received a six-year prison term at the District Court in Hong Kong and was transferred to Tai Lam Correctional Institution, the city’s oldest maximum security women’s prison.
Despite her attorney’s plea for leniency based on Rose’s lack of prior convictions and her foreigner status in Hong Kong, Judge Tse dismissed the request. Rose had been restricted from working or leaving the region for two years leading up to her trial.
The woman had alleged in 2024 that she was sexually assaulted by a man in his residence in Mid-Levels, an upscale neighborhood in Hong Kong, during the early hours of February 1, 2024.
The man, referred to as X during the proceedings, was initially arrested on rape suspicions. However, two days later, Rose was apprehended on blackmail charges for allegedly demanding £100,000 (HK$1.05 million) from him.
During her trial in March, Rose faced charges of perverting the course of justice, with prosecutors claiming she had made a false rape report.
While the man was never formally charged, Judge Tse praised him as a truthful and trustworthy witness, contrasting Rose as deceitful and unreliable, according to Hong Kong Free Press.
Judge Tse imposed a five-year term for the blackmail offense and three years for perverting justice, with one year to be served consecutively, resulting in a total six-year imprisonment.
