Catch her if you can..... (29)

Net closes on conwoman who boasts 40 aliases wanted by FBI, PSNI and Gardai

She has 40 different aliases and is wanted by the FBI, PSNI and An Garda Siochana.


For four years she has been on the run after fleeing |s]Northern Ireland o6c to escape another jail term for fraud.

But the net appears to be closing in on conwoman Julia Holmes, who has defrauded victims across Ireland and America out of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Holmes disappeared from her home in Ballynahinch, Co Down, in January 2011. A warrant was issued for her arrest when she failed to turn up to court in Newtownards to be sentenced for frauds totalling £18,000.

Despite police failing to locate the grandmother, it has since emerged that she has been freely living in the Republic of Ireland under the name Croen Ruttle with her 'husband' Tom Ruttle. She is not legally married, as she never divorced her first husband.

The couple have been running a successful artisan food business, called Irish Bee Sensations, in Cork.

Their product has been so successful that last year they won a gold award at the prestigious Irish Food Awards in the pure Irish honey section.

Despite her 'wanted' status, Holmes has brazenly posed for publicity shots at food competitions to promote her produce.

However, it appears that she has been forced into hiding again after beekeepers in Cork began to question her "wild honey", which she sold to upmarket retail outlets.

She is now suspected of having built her business on supermarket honey that she repackaged as having been produced by "bees fed on wild heather" and sold on for a large profit. Tom Ruttle has not been connected with the alleged scam.

"We became suspicious when we realised she didn't know anything about bees. We suspect she has been repackaging and rebranding supermarket bought honey," an Irish beekeeper told the Belfast Telegraph.

Holmes' last known address was in Askeaton in Co Limerick. According to one local she has claimed to be suffering from cancer. She has not been seen in the area for several weeks and contact details for her business have been withdrawn from social media sites.

Holmes has called herself Dr Watson, Julia Watson and Celia Watson in the past.

haha fair play

ON a slighter lesser note, I watched Come Dine With Me once, where a girl served three courses and won the thousand pounds - but had pre ordered the meal from a restaurant across the road, who had waiters running across with each course and handing it into her through the kitchen window, lol

And she was televised doing it, lol - no shame.

I actually have some of that produce in my cupboard

Does it taste any better than 'normal' bees honey?

I bought jam that was flavoured with honey instead of sugar

It's yummy


Damn...now I'll never be able to buy it again

Make your own brand of 'Jam flavoured honey' and sell it. You could call it 'Miss Molly's jamoney'...

Hey, you might be on to something there!