A British woman has been sentenced to six years in prison in Hong Kong after she falsely accused a banker of rape and then attempted to extort £100,000 (US$134,060) from him. Isabel Anonia Barbra Eudora Rose, 26, from Hackney, east London, was convicted of blackmail and perverting the course of public justice following a trial that revealed a calculated scheme.
Sentencing Details
Judge Adriana Noelle Tse Ching handed down the sentence at Hong Kong's District Court on Wednesday. Rose received five years for blackmail and three years for perverting the course of justice, with one year to be served consecutively, totaling six years. She had been convicted in March after denying the charges throughout the proceedings.
Prosecutors argued that Rose fabricated the rape allegation to extort money from the man, whose identity has been withheld. Rose maintained her innocence, insisting she was genuinely raped.
The Alleged Incident and WhatsApp Messages
Rose traveled to Hong Kong on January 31, 2024, after meeting the man in Thailand a month earlier. On February 1, she alleged that he raped her at his apartment. The prosecution's case relied heavily on WhatsApp messages exchanged between the pair.
The morning after the alleged rape, Rose wrote: "Are you annoyed I didn't want to have sex." The man replied: "What no of course not. Was impressed by your restraint." Later that day, Rose said: "You violated me last night, I didn't wanna have sex." He responded: "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."
In further messages, Rose wrote: "You basically raped me," to which the man replied: "That's not what I'm into at all and I feel sick." The conversation then shifted to money. The man agreed to reimburse Rose for travel and accommodation. Rose wrote: "Send me the right amount you owe me for everything. Think about that. Think carefully." He transferred £5,000 that day and attempted to send another £5,000.
Rose then wrote: "You've given 10% of what I'm owed. 100% of my soul gone." The man replied: "But I don't have 100k, I have no way of paying you that."
Arrest and Conviction
Rose reported the rape to police on February 3. The man was arrested and questioned but released without charge. Rose was arrested the following day and later charged with blackmail and perverting the course of public justice. In her verdict, Judge Tse relied on the WhatsApp messages, describing the offence as "cruel and evil."
At sentencing, Judge Tse said: "The defendant took advantage of [the man]'s kindness, naivety, friendship and romantic interest." She called Rose "an author of her own wrongdoing" and said her false report to police had been "vengeful and wicked."
Impact and Reaction
The case has drawn attention to the serious consequences of false allegations, which can undermine trust in genuine victims of sexual assault. The man, a British banker, was exonerated after the investigation. Rose will serve her sentence in a Hong Kong prison.
