Carol Hawkins was convicted on 181 counts of theft from the bassist’s bank accounts over a four-year period.
Clayton walked in to the courtroom as the jury at the Circuit Criminal Court in Dublin returned an unanimous verdict on each individual count.
Jurors had been deliberating for more than five hours.
Judge Partick McCartan released 48-year-old Hawkins on bail until sentencing on Friday July 6.
He told the jury: “The evidence in this case was overwhelming. Nobody could seriously disagree with the verdict you have given.”
Hawkins showed no emotion as each verdict was delivered, which took almost 25 minutes.
She sat in the dock, staring straight ahead and resting her head on her clasped hands.
The mother-of-two had gained the musician’s “absolute trust” for the 17 years she worked for him.
She was signatory on two of his bank accounts from which she wrote 181 cheques to deposit it her own account, a joint account with her then husband John Hawkins and a credit card account.
Her deception emerged in 2008 when she confessed to booking herself between €13,000 and €15,000 worth of flights on his account to visit her children in the US and London.
Investigations later revealed that thousands of euro had been spent on exotic holidays and in designer boutiques in New York, such as Roberto Cavalli.
Hawkins also bought 22 horses, with more than €400,000 of Clayton’s cash listed as horse and horse expenditure.
Elsewhere, a Volkswagen Golf was purchased for her son Joe, while the rock star’s money paid for fashion and film courses for her children.
Clayton originally employed Hawkins, of Lower Rathmines Road in Dublin, as a housekeeper in 1992 and her then husband as a driver and occasional chef.
But her duties evolved from looking after the house and preparing meals, to eventually looking after Clayton’s books.
The bassist revealed he was so concerned for her welfare even after her first confession that he found her a therapist because she claimed to be suicidal.
No defence was given during the trial.
Outside court Clayton met fans and posed for photographs before making a brief statement.
“I welcome today’s outcome and I wish to thank the jury, An Garda Siochana and all those involved with the case,” he said.
“I’d like to thank all of my family, friends and colleagues for their support.”
24 months around the world tour with a brief stop to address Bono’s back surgery. Their back in the the studio in Dublin recording what we can only guess will be their 13th album.
Adam spoke earlier in the week to John Murray of Radio One in Irleand. He was promoting the “Walk in My Shoes Campaign to raise money for mental health issues. Last year Adam mum passed away however this program was inspired by her work with St Pats Hospital.
Last Night we posted a message from Dallas……
Just received this report from Dublin, where U2 is in the studio…
Just a heads up on how wonderful your 4 basses are….beautiful instruments and so much “weight” and deep tone with a very light weight bass……amazing. The Will Lee is killer and the PJs so balanced. Adam has been tracking away and not having to break the momentum dialing in his sound…..Just a very good marriage of effortless tone that seems inherent with the overall design. The entire band and the production team could not be happier.
Adam Clayton /U2TOURFANS 2010 Adams Clayton has finally become a father.
The Sunday Independent newspaper has revealed that 50-year-old Clayton, for years the bad boy of the group, had a child with his French girlfriend last year.
He is said to be over the moon.
Clayton was the bad boy best known for his rocky relationship with supermodel Naomi Campbell.
In more recent times it was revealed that his long-time personal assistant had allegedly been ripping him off.
Those bad times seem to be behind him now and the U2 bassist is looking at a more settled life with his new addition.
It took a while.
“I think one of the great things about bands is that they allow you to be irresponsible for longer — whether or not in the end that’s a really healthy position to take,” Adam told Q Magazine in 2001.
“I guess I’ve been lucky in that I f….d about until my mid-30s and now I can have more of a balanced outlook. I think not having a family and kids, I know what I need.”
He was a wild child.
Bono once stated that “we lived through him vicariously for a few years. I was hoping that he’d do something like buy a yacht and we could all hang out on it. Because all of us were too embarrassed.”
Back so soon? It’s only been four years - and one new album - since U2 last played in Auckland.
That matches the interval between their 1989 and 1993 visits. Back then, between the earthy, earnest Lovetown tour - one of the biggest this country has ever seen - and the extravagant Zoo TV shows, the band not only reinvented itself musically but reconfigured how bands of their stature played stadiums.
Tonight, 40,000 of us get to see if they’ve done that again.
Last year’s No Line On The Horizon album is possibly the last in a back-to-basics trio which started with 2000’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind and 2004’s How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.
It’s also achieved a fraction of the sales of U2’s other noughties albums, possibly due to a lack of any definitive hits.
But it’s easy to imagine Horizon tracks like the stomping Get On Your Boots causing the same sort of excitement down front that earlier-generation noisy anthems did.
And the ballad Moment Of Surrender should have the cellphone-as-cigarette-lighter-waving brigade out in force.
So this time U2 have something to prove. But they also have a very big platform to do that from.
All the visual evidence suggests that the “Claw” stage of this 360° tour is a great leap forward from the 2006 shows, which didn’t exactly lack for spectacle or whiz-bang production.
Of course, U2 and New Zealand go back a long way. Local fans were early adopters of their early albums. Then there was One Tree Hill, the song written after the 1986 death of Greg Carroll, their Kiwi stage manager.
Clayton says Auckland - and New Zealand - are still special for U2 to visit.
“The connection with Greg, and the affinity with Greg and our history with your country is strong. As well as that I think it’s that kind of special bond that two island cultures have with each other. In the early years, when we were spending a lot of time touring America and Europe, when we came down to the Southern Hemisphere there was something very reassuring about landing in New Zealand. We always have fun here, we get on with the people very well - and the crowds are fantastic.”
Adam Clayton /Dave Long 2010 /U2TOURFANSSurely we do not want you to end up a poor old rocker ! Gosh this is so often the truth wiht artists. Hope fully Adam can resolve this and get back to focusing on the music.
Adam is attempting to sue Bank of Ireland Private Banking Ltd and Gaby Smyth Co, chartered accountants, because he feels they should have notified him that over $5 million went missing from his account over five years.
However, he “couldn’t be bothered” to read his own bank statements, the Commercial Court in Dublin was told yesterday. The Court was told that Clayton felt that bank should have notified him, telling him that his bank account was hemorrhaging money.
The Court also said that Clayton was “putting the cart before the horse” in taking a case against the bank as the separate action against his former assistant, Ms Hawkins, has not been heard. In September 2008 Ms Hawkin’s admitted to skimming about $18,800 but the bank was never notified about this.
Paul Sreenan, Clayton’s lawyer said that his client was suing for a failing to complete the duties owed by bankers to their clients. In October 2009 Clayton was notified that there was some unusual activity in his accounts. His lawyer claims that had he known earlier he might have lost less money.
Though his assistant has admitted to taking $18,800 Clayton believes the figure to total over $5 million. He is suing the two companies for over $11 million for negligence and breach of contract.
Though Justice Peter Kelly refused his application to fast-track the case to the Commercial Court the case will instead go ahead in the High Court.
Bono, Sting, Timberlake To Perform On Haiti Telethon
George Clooney says the “Hope for Haiti” benefit for victims of the earthquake in Haiti will include performances from Bono, Sting, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and Alicia Keys.
The Edge, whose “Brothers” song was nominated for a Globe,(Did not win) said that he will be helping George Clooney’s Friday telethon. “This is one of the most serious disasters that has happened in 10 years and we have to do everything that we can. There’s no question about it.”
Of attending the Globes, he explained, “This is the perfect opportunity for people to say, ‘We’re there and we are going to do whatever we can,’” adding that the awards are a great platform to get the word out.
Speaking to The Associated Press at the Golden Globes ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Clooney said that more than 40 celebrities are expected to attend the Jan. 22 event. The actor said the aim of the benefit is “to show the people of Haiti that the whole world is paying attention.”
The benefit, which Clooney and Haitian-born singer Wyclef Jean will host, will be broadcast on more than a dozen broadcast and cable networks. It will be held in New York, with CNN’s Anderson Cooper chiming in from Haiti.
The show will benefit the Red Cross, UNICEF, Oxfam America, Partners in Health and Jean’s Yele Haiti Foundation.
Clooney said that songs from participating artists will also be available on iTunes, with proceeds going to the relief effort.
You can support Hait too by visiting our Haiti link.
U2’s ‘Bad’ gets a NASCAR makeover
U2 3-D Car Promotion #19Heroin and NASCAR, who knew? U2 fans watching the NFL playoffs on Fox this weekend surely heard what would seem to be an oddly placed song scoring the network’s preview of the upcoming Daytona 500: U2’s mid-’80s hit “Bad.”
The commercial features little more than a snippet of one of the Edge’s most recognizable guitar riffs — the few slow, glistening notes that set the table for the song’s explosive rock ‘n’ roll release.
U2 hasn’t exactly shied away from commercial endorsements of late, or massive sporting events.
Also, anyone who has attended any NFL, NBA or MLB game in recent years has likely heard “Beautiful Day” piped throughout the arena or stadium, further linking U2 with the sporting world.
Yet judging by some previous NASCAR-branded music releases, U2 seems to be a bit out of place with the barroom hits and country rock more closely tied to the sport.
Granted, it’s more a story these days when rock ‘n’ roll doesn’t appear in a commercial, but are U2 fans ready to have one of the band’s most iconic songs forever associated with auto racing? If the quick responses on Twitter are any gauge, then no.
Though Bono’s lyrics in “Bad” are vague and open to interpretation, it’s a song long believed to be about heroin addiction, making it feel a bit out of place in hyping the Feb. 14 race. It should be noted, of course, that it’s not the first time a rock ‘n’ roll tune about drug use has appeared in a commercial, as Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life” more famously promoted a cruise line.
Sheridan:’U2 sure bet for an Oscar’
OscarDIRECTOR Jim Sheridan last night tipped U2 to walk off with an Oscar after the group failed to win a Golden Globe for the soundtrack to his new film ‘Brothers’.
The band’s song ‘Winter’ was beaten in the Best Song category by singer Ryan Bingham with the theme from film ‘Crazy Heart’ at a star-studded ceremony in Hollywood on Sunday night.
“I’m sorry the lads didn’t win a Golden Globe but I think there’s a good chance they could get an Oscar instead for Best Song,” Sheridan told the Irish Independent.
The collaboration between Jim Sheridan and U2 came about after Sheridan showed U2 a rough cut of the movie.
‘Brothers’, a remake of the Danish film ‘Brodre’, tells the story of a decorated marine who goes missing overseas while his younger brother cares for his wife.
Another Irish nominee who failed to pick up a gong was Dublin actor Brendan Gleeson, in the running for best actor in a TV movie for his portrayal of British prime minister Winston Churchill. But Kevin Bacon won that award for his role in ‘Taking Chance’.
Ex-U2 worker has her assets frozen
A former personal assistant of U2 guitarist Adam Clayton has had her assets frozen indefinitely over allegations she defrauded 1.8 million euro from him.
Clayton sacked Carol Hawkins late last year after she allegedly used his debit and credit cards to buy cars, a house and jewellery.
Dublin’s High Court was told lawyers for the former PA are examining an employment contract which they said contains a mediation clause.
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‘Artificial Horizon’: U2’s Limited Edition Remix CD
ARTIFICIAL HORIZON, a U2 remix album produced only for subscribers to U2.com. If you thought the U2360° remix of I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight was going to bring the house down, wait till you hear the Grand Jury Mix of If God Will Send his Angels, Trent Reznor’s version of Vertigo, Jacknife Lee’s remake of Fast Cars or David Holmes’s remix of Beautiful Day. This is one special collection - check the full tracklisting below.
ARTIFICIAL HORIZON comes off the presses in late January and will be mailed to subscribers within a few weeks
We love Clouds !
Can’t tell you why yet but soon you will love them too.
Housekeeper stole $3 million from U2’s Adam Clayton
What a shock! U2 member Adam Clayton may have had as much as $3 million stolen from him by his housekeeper a Dublin court has been told.
Adam Clayton has secured a high court order freezing the assets of his former housekeeper Carol Hawkins after alleging she may have stolen $3 million from him.
The evidence suggests that Mrs Hawkins bought an apartment in New York, had shares in several horses and used Clayton’s debit and credit cards for the private use of her and her family.
In September 2008 Hawkins went to Clayton and admitted she had stolen $20,000. He had dealt with it in a "compassionate manner" and kept her employed the court was told.
It turned out however that she may have withdrawn about $1,000 twice daily for a period of 13 months from his credit and debit cards.
On Friday (18Dec09) Dublin’s High Court heard allegations Hawkins used Clayton’s money to buy an apartment in New York City and fund holidays for her family.
Hawkins admits using Clayton’s cards, but disputes the sums of money involved. The star’s lawyers secured an order from the court forbidding Hawkins from reducing her assets, and the judge adjourned the case until Monday (21Dec09).
Two accountants also discovered trips to Chicago for her son and a friend as well as numerous other expenses charged against Clayton’s accounts
