DUBLIN (AP) — An Irish jury has found a former aide to U2 bassist Adam Clayton guilty of 181 counts of theft after she spent €2.8 million ($3.6 million) of the musician's savings on herself in a four-year period.
The Dublin Criminal Court granted bail to Carol Hawkins pending the 48-year-old's sentencing July 6. Friday's convictions related to 181 checks she wrote to herself from Clayton's accounts.
Hawkins had claimed that Clayton authorized her expenditures, including several foreign trips, 22 thoroughbred horses, a new car and university courses for her children. But Clayton testified he'd known nothing about it and gave Hawkins access to his bank accounts purely so she could pay bills related to his Dublin mansion.
Hawkins worked for Clayton for 17 years until he discovered her spending spree in 2008.
