How Amanda Staveley took on Barclays over its 2008 Qatar rescue

The 1.5bn case of the high-flying businesswoman began its high court hearing this week

It is June 2008 and the start of the financial crisis. Everyone in the City of London is firefighting, but two bankers are wrestling with an especially thorny problem.

They are within touching distance of saving their bank from oblivion, yet a single sticking point remains: how do they accept the rescue deal on offer from the Gulf state of Qatar, while simultaneously keeping themselves out of prison?