A FORMER personal assistant and housekeeper to Adam Clayton has gone on trial for allegedly stealing almost €3 million from the U2 bass player.
Carol Hawkins (47), Lower Rathmines Road, Dublin, has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 181 counts of theft from two of Mr Clayton’s Bank of Ireland accounts over a four-year period from 2004 to 2008. The alleged thefts came to a total of €2,862,567.
It took almost two hours to arraign Ms Hawkins on all the charges.
A jury of seven men and five women has been sworn in for the trial, which Colm Briain, prosecuting, will open today.
Mr Clayton is expected to give evidence in the trial before Judge Patrick McCartan, which is expected to last six weeks.
The case involves more than 30 witnesses and a 2,500-page book of evidence.