A City trader who blew millions in risky investments has been jailed for five years after admitting two counts of fraud.

South Africa-born Shaun Oates, 31, of Bothwell Road, New Addington, appeared at The old Bailey on Friday (December 2) after using his position as a trader with TRX Futures to siphon cash into his own account and leave a deficit of more than £4.5m with his employers.

Det sgt Rob Sterling, from the City of London police, said: "Shaun Oates was a man with a strong knowledge of the stock market and a wealth of understanding of how his company worked.

"To many he would have seemed the perfect employee, and it is little wonder that his bosses chose to place their trust in him.

"But when he betrayed that trust he gambled both his own future and that of his colleagues. His crime has affected an entire business, and it is for that reason that tonight he begins a lengthy sentence behind bars."