A banker from Chislehurst who was accused of conspiring to rig banking rates has been found not guilty after a trial lasting almost four months.

Noel Cryan, 49, of Grove Vale, was accused alongside five other stockbrokers of helping jailed banker Tom Hayes to interfere with the rate that banks use to lend money to one another.

Prosecutors said the bankers had conspired to rig the London interbank offered rate (Libor) in exchange for rewards such as takeaway curries and drinks.

Colin John Goodman, 53, from Epsom, Danny Wilkinson, 48, from Hornchurch, and Terry Farr, 44, from Southend-on-Sea, were all cleared of two counts of conspiracy to defraud.

Darrell Read, 50, of Benfleet and James Gilmour, 50, of Benfleet, were cleared of one conspiracy charge.

TOP STORIES

Mr Goodman’s lawyers condemned the trial as a "shambles" after he and his five co-defendants were all found not guilty on Wednesday, January 27.

A statement released by solicitors acting for Mr Goodman said: "We can only reiterate what his counsel told the jury, that the SFO case was a complete shambles and should never have been brought."

The Serious Fraud Office defended its decision to bring the charges.

Director of the Serious Fraud Office, David Green CB QC said: “The key issue in this trial was whether these defendants were party to a dishonest agreement with Tom Hayes.

"By their verdicts the jury have said that they could not be sure that this was the case.

"Nobody could sensibly suggest that these charges should not have been brought and considered by a jury."

Tom Hayes, 35, from Hampshire, was convicted over the Libor-rigging scandal in August 2015.

Mr Hayes was sentenced to 14 years in prison, which was later reduced to 11 years, for manipulating the rate while working for UBS and Citibank between 2006 and 2010.