BREAKING: British woman who reported rape in Hong Kong gets 6 years jail for blackmail, perverting justice

A British tourist has been jailed for six years for blackmail and perverting the course of justice, after initially reporting a man in 2024 for allegedly raping her. District Court in Wan Chai. File photo: HKFP. Isabel Rose, 26, was handed the sentence at District Court on Wednesday morning. She wore a white top and a black blazer. Judge Adriana Noelle Tse Ching said Rose had “not shown an iota of remorse for her wicked behaviour,” rejecting her lawyer’s pleas for leniency based on her clean record and status as a foreigner in Hong Kong. Isabel Rose. Photo: Isabel Rose, via Instagram. The imprisonment comes more than two years after Rose filed a police report saying she was raped by a man in his Mid-Levels apartment during the early hours of February 1, 2024. Police arrested the man – known in the case as X – on suspicion of rape. He cannot be named for legal reasons. Police arrested Rose two days later on suspicion of blackmail, and she was subsequently charged with allegedly demanding a payment of £100,000 (HK$1.05 million) from the man. Months later, Rose was also charged with perverting the course of justice, with the prosecution saying that she had filed a false rape report to police. The man was never charged. Rose was found guilty in February after a six-day trial last year, in which both Rose and X testified. In a verdict that was over 300 pages long, the judge said it was “crystal clear” that she demanded the £100,000. District Court Judge Adriana Tse. Photo: Judiciary. The judge also described X as an “honest, credible and reliable witness,” while saying Rose was “dishonest, incredible and unreliable.” More to come – refresh for updates. Safeguard press freedom; keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team Support HKFP | Policies & Ethics | Error/typo? | Contact | Newsletter | Transparency & Annual Report | Apps Make a one-off donation. Hillary Leung is a journalist at Hong Kong Free Press, where she reports on local politics and social issues, and assists with editing. Since joining in late 2021, she has covered the Covid-19 pandemic, political court cases including the 47 democrats national security trial, and challenges faced by minority communities. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Hillary completed her undergraduate degree in journalism and sociology at the University of Hong Kong. She worked at TIME Magazine in 2019, where she wrote about Asia and overnight US news before turning her focus to the protests that began that summer. At Coconuts Hong Kong, she covered general news and wrote features, including about a Black Lives Matter march that drew controversy amid the local pro-democracy movement and two sisters who were born to a domestic worker and lived undocumented for 30 years in Hong Kong. More by Hillary Leung