A CITY banker nicknamed The Walrus was being sentenced on Friday for pocketing an insider-trading fortune.

Asif Butt, aged 35, was supposed to prevent information leaks at Credit Suisse First Boston.

Instead he rigged bets on the stock market with the help of some old school friends.

The former £90,000-a-year compliance officer was convicted at London's Southwark Crown Court last month of making at least £265,000, although police think the true figure could run into millions.

Butt, of Garston, Hertfordshire, will be sentenced alongside his co-defendants - chartered accountant Ian Beale, aged 39, Alexander Coleman, aged 34, Richard Rudson, aged 38 and Daniel Masters, aged 32, all from Watford.

They were all convicted of conspiracy to commit insider trading between 31 July, 1998 and 17 January, 2002.