U2 bassist Clayton says money not spent on him

Saturday 23 June 2012

U2 star Adam Clayton has denied that money lodged in his former personal assistant's bank account was spent on him.

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Carol Hawkins, 48, stands accused in court of embezzling €2.8 million (£2.25m) of the bassist's funds.

She has pleaded not guilty to stealing 181 cheques from Mr Clayton and lodging money in her own account from 2004 to 2008.

Defence barrister, senior counsel Ken Fogarty, argued that money spent from Hawkins's accounts on lavish purchases, such as designer clothing and limousines, was for the musician's benefit."I'm denying that," Mr Clayton said during his second day on the witness stand at the Circuit Criminal Court in Dublin.Under cross-examination, the U2 star said he never saw Hawkins wear designer shoes "with red soles" or expensive handbags. The musician said it was not his job to speculate what the defendant spent the alleged stolen money on.Mr Fogarty said money spent from Hawkins's accounts was varied. "There seems to be a list from the ordinary to the extraordinary of life: from Marks & Spencer to those places where they sell handbags in New York," he said."Have you ever seen her walking around with a pair of shoes with a red sole? Can you tell me if you ever saw handbags that cost a small fortune hanging off her arm?" Mr Clayton said he had not.When asked if he heard an account of Hawkins's two children Eleanor and Joe "swanning around in limousines", he replied no.Hawkins worked for the bassist for 17 years from 1992. She was signatory to two of his bank accounts and was responsible for signing off on payments related to the star's south Dublin mansion, ranging from petty cash to larger refurbishment bills.The alleged deception emerged in 2008 when she confessed to booking between €13,000 and €15,000-worth of flights on his account to visit her children, the court had heard. Mr Clayton told the jury that while he was "rattled" , he sympathised with the mother-of-two who had at the time gone through a break-up and claimed to be suicidal.The hearing continues.

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U2 bassist Clayton says money not spent on him

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