Clayton ‘absolutely astonished’ by PA’s €434k spend on horses

Adam Clayton expressed his “absolute astonishment” when it was discovered a €434,000 was spent by his former PA Carol Hawkins on horses and horse expenditure, a court heard.

The U2 guitarist told the trial of Carol Hawkins who is accused of stealing almost €3m from him, that he has “no interest in horses or gambling” so the money spent on horses was not for his benefit and he had no knowledge of this spending.

Hawkins, aged 48, of 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 totalled €2,869,274

Earlier, the trial heard how Ms Hawkins and her former husband John owned up to 22 thoroughbred race horses while they were on a joint salary of €48,000 when they worked for Mr Clayton.

Mr Clayton told prosecuting counsel Colm O’Briain he never owned a horse but was aware Ms Hawkins and her former husband John had an interest in the equine world.

“I never owned a horse but many years ago, I was invited to be part of a syndicate for a horse named after Unforgettable Fire, a record by U2. But the horse ended up with a splint and never ran,” said Mr Clayton.

He told counsel he helped John Hawkins buy a horse and lent him €20,000 in 1995 or 1996, which as far as he knows was paid back.

He told counsel he was not told at the time over €434,000 in funds for the Hawkins’ equine interests came from his account.

“It was astonishing and revealed a whole side of Carol Hawkins I had never seen before,” he said.

Mr Clayton said he first met Ms Hawkins and her husband John when they ran a hotel on a Caribbean Island in 1992 and because of her extensive experience he employed her to run his house in Rathfarnham.

“I wanted someone to do the shopping, cooking and run my house while I was away,” he said.

Ms Hawkins was promoted to personal assistant and became responsible for signing cheques for his personal and household expenses.

He said he had “no knowledge” of Ms Hawkins purchasing an apartment in New York in April 2007 for €345,000, money of which she is alleged to have transferred from his account.

He said he “did not consent” to any of the alleged 181 cheque payments to be made by Ms Hawkins to her personal, joint and credit card accounts. He also said Ms Hawkins only had permission to sign cheques on his behalf for household expenses at Danesmoate and payments approved by a steering group for its €15m renovation.

Under cross-examining by defence counsel Ken Fogarty, Mr Clayton disagreed that Ms Hawkins was responsible for purchasing all of the furnishing items for his home.

“I would buy things I wanted around me, Carol Hawkins bought the cornflakes,” said Mr Clayton.

He told defence counsel, the “timeframe” of the alleged charges makes no difference: “I never sanctioned her to write cheques to herself. It’s my money.”

The trial continues before Judge Patrick McCartan and a jury of seven men and five women, and is expected to last another four weeks.