British woman jailed for six years in Hong Kong over £100,000 rape‑claim blackmail

A Hong Kong court has sentenced a British woman to six years in prison after convicting her of blackmailing a compatriot for £100,000 (US$134,060) over rape allegations.

Isabel Anonia Barbra Eudora Rose, 26, was sentenced at the District Court on Wednesday, with Judge Adriana Noelle Tse Ching finding her guilty of blackmail and perverting the course of public justice.

Rose, an event management professional from London, arrived in Hong Kong on January 31, 2024, to visit a man she met during a trip to Thailand the month before. She alleged he raped her that night at his one-bedroom flat in Central.

The following day, the pair exchanged messages discussing both what had happened and possible compensation. In one message, Rose wrote: “You basically raped me,” to which the man replied: “That is not what I’m into at all and I feel sick.”

She reported the alleged rape to police on February 3. The court heard that the man was initially arrested and questioned, but officers arrested Rose the following day and later charged her.

In her verdict, Tse accepted the man’s account and relied in part on the messages exchanged after the encounter.

The man, whose identity was withheld, said that he had asked Rose to perform oral sex but she refused. He said that he later apologised for “misreading her signals” and “rushing her”.

In response, Rose asked whether he was annoyed that she did not want to have sex. He replied that he was impressed by her restraint but felt mildly frustrated.

Tse said these exchanges undermined the rape allegation, noting that Rose’s messages were inconsistent with her claim. She concluded that the allegation had been fabricated.

The judge also found that the pair had engaged in intimate acts but did not have penetrative intercourse. A forensic examination found bruising on Rose’s neck but no genital injuries.

The court heard that discussions about money followed. Initially, the pair discussed reimbursement for accommodation and travel expenses. While the man agreed to pay £2,000 at Rose’s request, she later increased the amount to £5,000.

Rose subsequently wrote: “You’ve given 10 per cent of what I’m owed, 100 per cent of my soul gone,” implying she expected a larger payment.

In further exchanges, the man said: “But I don’t have £100k, I have no way of paying you that,” to which Rose replied: “You have half of it which can be sent. And the other half tomorrow.”

Despite the £100,000 request from Rose not showing in the text records, Tse believed that the defendant had mentioned it in disappearing texts or voice messages that she later deleted.

The judge ruled that Rose had demanded that large sum of money, threatening to go to police if it was not paid by a deadline.

At Wednesday’s sentencing, Tse said the defendant had committed a “cruel and evil” offence by extorting money from the man.

“The defendant took advantage of [the man]’s kindness, naivety, friendship and romantic interest,” she said.

Tse said that Rose was after the banker’s money from the outset and further “abused the relationship” to blackmail him within two days of her arrival in Hong Kong.

She set the starting point for sentencing over the blackmail at five years’ imprisonment and ordered one year of the penalty from the second charge to be served consecutively.

Calling Rose “an author of her own wrongdoing”, Tse said her false report to police was “vengeful and wicked behaviour”.

“She punished [the man] for his audacity to defy her demand for payment,” she said.

After the guilty verdict in March, Rose broke down in tears in the dock and was remanded in custody.

She later told the South China Morning Post that she could not believe what had happened and said “none of it makes sense”.

“I reported the rape. But within 24 hours, there was no rape any more,” she said, adding that officers told her they would treat the blackmail case more seriously.

She said she had arrived in Hong Kong as a tourist and now faced having to “suck it all up”, referring to her imprisonment. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST