Tag Archives: Susan Watt

‘You couldn’t make it up’

On this day nine years ago, 14th October, 2013, a criminal trial, alleging large scale fraud, opened at the picturesque courthouse in Chania, Crete. A notable event as Greece’s largest island is a popular tourist destination with exceptionally low levels of crime The stakes were high as the defendant, Ralph John Christie, 52 years oldContinue reading “‘You couldn’t make it up’”

Fraud flop back in the news

A miscarriage of justice case that has now been running for over 13 years is back in the news. Starting next week – on Friday 14th October, 2022 – a series of three articles will cover the latest legal developments. To both recap and set the scene, the first article featuring Leeds-born Ralph Christie, 63,Continue reading “Fraud flop back in the news”

Watt a carry on

This is the second of two linked articles featuring the innocence claim of Ralph Christie, a Crete-based property developer who was convicted of five fraud offences at Bradford Crown Court in 2015. It focuses on the role of former business associate turned prosecution witness, Susan Watt. The first of the two articles, which sets outContinue reading “Watt a carry on”

New information aids upcoming innocence claim bid

A case that began with a criminal investigation in July, 2009 is still beset, very nearly twelve years later, by impediments in two legal jurisdictions, thousands of miles apart, writes Neil Wilby. In September, 2020, it was reported elsewhere on this website that an appeal hearing on the Greek island of Crete had been delayedContinue reading “New information aids upcoming innocence claim bid”

Day of reckoning

In the summer of 2009, a dispute began between two erstwhile business partners when Bradford businessman, Stephen Thomas, walked into a police station and reported concerns over his dealings with Ralph Christie, a Leeds-born flooring retailer and contractor turned property developer, who had risen to prominence on the paradise Greek island of Crete over theContinue reading “Day of reckoning”