Askeaton deaths: Charity chief and business manager reveal con details

The head of a children’s charity and the manager of a Galway-based company have told of their encounters with conwoman Julia Holmes, who is believed to have been found dead with her partner Tom Ruttle in their home in Askeaton, Co Limerick, on Monday morning.

Tony Heffernan of the Saoirse Foundation recalled how Ms Holmes, using an alias, offered to help raise funds for the Bumbleance — an ambulance for sick children, but lost interest once it was established that she would not handle the money from the event.

“She contacted me directly as Croen Ruttle from Irish Bee Sensations, a company which does artisan honey. She introduced herself as a friend of [celebrity chef] Neven Maguire’s and she came up with a fundraising idea to get Neven to do a fundraising cookery demonstration for us,” Mr Heffernan told Seán O’Rourke on RTÉ Radio 1.