British woman jailed for falsely accusing banker of rape in Hong Kong

Thursday, 23 July 2026

A British woman who accused a banker of rape in Hong Kong has been jailed for six years for blackmail and perverting the course of public justice.

Isabel Rose, a 26-year-old events manager from south-east London, accused a fellow Briton of rape after visiting him in January 2024.

But the accused was released without charge, while Rose was arrested and charged before being found guilty by a district court in March.

Judge Adriana Noelle Tse Ching handed down the six-year prison term on Wednesday, telling Rose she had taken advantage of the man’s “kindness, naivety, friendship and romantic interest” to blackmail him.

Judge Ching said Rose had “not shown an iota of remorse” before handing down the sentence, and called the allegation “completely fabricated”.

In a 300-page judgement, she called Rose’s conduct “wicked” and “evil” and rejected calls for a lighter sentence.

Rose was accused of demanding money from the banker, who cannot be named for legal reasons, after she accused him of raping her.

Court documents claimed Rose had met the man while travelling in Thailand before he invited her to visit him in Hong Kong and paid for her flights, during which time the pair shared a bed.

Rose said she was raped in his apartment around 12 hours after landing. Forensic testing to establish whether a rape had occurred was inconclusive.

“I came here with four days of clothes, not realising I would be here for two years,” Rose had said during her bail. “Somewhere along the line, quite early on, something went wrong.”

During their acquaintance, the man transferred £5000 to Rose, who began asking for “escalating amounts of money”.

Prosecutors said she sought to extort as much as £100,000 from the man before filing a police report alleging rape.

Rose said the money was compensation to cover flights, accommodation and medical costs that the man had offered to pay.

But the court concluded she “used the romantic connection to manipulate” the man.

In a WhatsApp exchange between Rose and the man, she wrote: “You violated me last night, I didn’t wanna [sic] have sex.

The man responded: “I am 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.”

But the man told the court he misinterpreted Rose’s use of “violated” and read it as an emotional violation rather than an accusation he had raped her.

Judge Ching said Rose had deleted texts and used disappearing messages.

Dressed in a black jacket and white top in court, Rose looked at supporters as the judge handed down the sentence, The Guardian reported.

She appeared solemn and gestured to the public gallery as she was escorted out of the dock.

Rose’s mother, Aysha Bell, appeared visibly distressed in court.

Bell has spent much of the past two years in Hong Kong, as her daughter was not allowed to leave Hong Kong while on bail awaiting trial.

Her family say they have spent tens of thousands of pounds trying to fight the case.

Bell reported the alleged rape to the Metropolitan Police in London in 2024, as UK police can legally investigate sexual assault cases involving British nationals abroad.

The Metropolitan Police opened a file and assigned the detective to the case. The banker was named as a suspect, correspondence seen by The Guardian showed.

The Foreign Office told The Guardian it was supporting a British woman in Hong Kong and was in contact with her family and the local authorities.