By 
WHEN Julia Holmes first swept into Strabane in 2008 she had the business community eating out of her hand. Using the alias of ‘JJ’ and sporting a confident American accent, the 56-year-old played the part of the feisty, successful entrepreneur to a tee.
Polished and charming, she was quickly making promises and writing cheques to support the glamorous lifestyle she was seemingly accustomed to. So convincing was she in fact that she almost managed to talk the then owners of Strabane’s Wellbeing Spa out of their million pound business.
Holes though eventually began to appear in the Castlederg woman’s story and before long her web of lies and deceit had tumbled like a house of cards.
In November 2008 the PSNI were called in and the career con woman was eventually arrested before being charged with trying to swindle a string of local companies. That though, was far from the beginning or end of Julia Holmes.
November 2008
JJ, or Celia Julia Holmes as she is identified by police, is remanded into custody at Strabane Magistrates Court on 17 charges of fraud, handling stolen goods and obtaining services dishonestly. Some of her victims attended court for the initial hearing.
July 2009
Holmes appears before Dungannon Crown Court to answer 21 charges of fraud. Court papers revealed how a string of Strabane businesses including the Wellbeing Spa, Rapid Response, Cilento and Fudge Boutique had fallen foul of the lies.
October 2009
Holmes is jailed for 21 months at Enniskillen Crown Court after pleading guilty to all 21 counts against her. Further details of her crime spree are revealed and how she duped businesses in Tyrone, Belfast and Antrim out of tens of thousands of pounds.
September 2012
Police appeal for information in tracing Holmes after she fails to turn up at Downpatrick Magistrates Court. She had previously been charged with fraud totalling £18,000.
2013
Gardai and the PSNI receive reports that Holmes may be residing in Galway however no trace of her is found.
April 2015
It emerges that Holmes, using the name Croen Ruttle, had recently passed herself off as an award-winning producer of organic honey. She offered to set up a cookery demonstration involving the TV chef, Neven Maguire to raise money for the Saoirse Foundation which operates an ambulance service for sick children. The charity became suspicious after Holmes insisted on collecting cash from the sale of tickets, a practise which breached its fundraising regulations.
May 2015
Burglars discovered two bodies believed to be 63-year-old Holmes and her partner, Thomas Ruttle at a house outside Askeaton, Limerick. The badly decomposed bodies were believed to have been in the house since mid March.
