It was 20 years ago that a global manhunt was launched for Watford’s Nick Leeson - the rogue trader that caused the collapse of Barings Bank which sent shockwaves around the world.

Leeson, then a 28-year-old derivatives broker, fled his base in Singapore on February 27, 1995, after running up £862 million worth of losses at Barings Bank, which subsequently went bust, through unauthorised personal transactions.

The gaze of the world’s media was fixed on Haines Way in Leavesden where the ex-Parmiter’s School pupil grow up before he was arrested at Frankfurt Airport days later with his first wife, Lisa, at his side.

He was subsequently charged with forgery and fraud and sentenced to six-and-a-half years in one of the toughest prisons in Asia - of which he served four-and-a-half years.

Reflecting on the 20th anniversary of his staggering crime, Leeson said: "Every year has been an anniversary for me. I can't distance that from my birthday.

"The fact is the 23rd of February is the day that I went on the run, on the 24th of February Barings informed the Bank of England that they were insolvent.

"The 25th, which is my birthday, in 1995 was a Saturday and that's the day it first started to hit the newspapers that the bank had collapsed. So it's one and the same for me.

"It's so far in the past that I don't have any baggage attached to it, so if I'm being entirely honest [the anniversary] is just another day."

In order to get to that point, Leeson needed to rebuild his life by letting go of the lifestyle to which he was accustomed and the guilt and embarrassment that this working class son of a plasterer felt.

Upon his release from prison - and after treatment for colon cancer - Leeson went to university to study a psychology degree and wrote a number of books.

He also commissioned a film of his story, Rogue Trader, in which he was played by Ewan McGregor, and moved to Ireland, away from the media glare.

But most important of all, he took the time to understand exactly what drove him to gamble away fortunes of other people's money.

He said: "Part of the recovery is being accountable and taking full responsibility.

"I don't think if you don't get to that stage you've got a base with which to move forward. That's where you've got to get to.

"It doesn't matter if you're an alcoholic or a drug addict or a reformed banker, you have to be accountable and responsible for your actions otherwise you've got a very depressing future."

Having previously run Galway United Football Club and now well remunerated on the after dinner speaker circuit, the happily remarried father-of-three’s future is anything but bleak.

But while his life is comfortable, he is lacking in the exhilaration that the banking sector provided him on an hourly basis.

He admits to "missing the excitement", but says he would never go back, even if it were permissible.

He said: "That opportunity will never happen, so I won't head back.

"But I look back on all the things that happened and it was the thing that made me sick, ended up with me being in jail.

"So I don't miss it that much. I'm happy to play the cards I'm dealt."