The paper said police have found no evidence that Malde had downloaded any inappropriate material on his computer or was involved in any criminal behaviour.

But a colleague told the paper the young stockbroker had previously been told off after he used his office computer to send an email relating to an events management company he ran in his spare time.

Malde, who worked long hours at Deutsche Bank's London headquarters and was often at his desk by 6 a.m., was headed for what friends called a 'spectacular career' in the City but feared he may lose his job.

He gained second place in a national competition to find Britain's Graduate of the Year in 2005 after graduating from Oxford University with a dissertation on the under-representation and under-achievement of black males in British universities.

He paid off his university loan by working on his holidays and while studying geography at Oxford University he did radio presenting, journalism, set up his own music company, and held more than 20 positions in various university clubs and societies.

His parents - mother Naina and father Bharat - who live in Yarm, near the town of Middlesbrough, were said to be in a state of shock.

They said in a statement Thursday: 'We are absolutely devastated. Equally we are so touched by the warm words from his many, many friends that alluded both to his tremendous talent and positive, lively spirit. He was an inspiration to so many.'