June 30, 2012 14:37

U2 bassist Adam Clayton's personal assistant found guilty of stealing €2.8 million

Jury convicts Carol Hawkins of embezzlement

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Photo: PA

U2 bassist Adam Clayton's personal assistant has been found guilty of stealing €2.8 million (£2.2 million) from him.

The Press Association reports that Carol Hawkins was found guilty of embezzlement by a jury at Dublin's Circuit Criminal Court after she they unanimously decided she had committed 181 acts of theft from Clayton's bank account over four years.

The 48-year-old has now been released on bail until sentencing on July 6, with Judge Patrick McCartan telling the jury: "The evidence in this case was overwhelming. Nobody could seriously disagree with the verdict you have given."

Clayton originally employed Hawkins as a housekeeper and bookkeeper and her then husband as a driver and occasional chef, paying them a joint salary of €48,000 (£38,725).

When she and her husband separated in 2007, Clayton continued to pay her the joint salary. He previously told the jury that in 2008 Hawkins had confessed to booking herself between €13,000 (£10,500) and €15,000 (£12,100) worth of flights on his account to visit her children in the US and London.

U2 are currently working on a new album, which will be the follow-up to their 2009 LP 'No Line On The Horizon'. Earlier this month, the band's frontman Bono said that their recent recording sessions had been their best "since 1979".

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