Banker in Tube binge party is off to South America

Alexandre Graham, 26, has announced on social networking website MySpace his plan to take a break from the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Mr Graham wrote: "Travel bug has also hit me... planning on hitting South America for six months (sabatical) [sic] after my grad scheme finishes in 2008."

Bosses at the bank refuse to say if Mr Graham, who lives in Fulham, has been disciplined for hosting a party on the Tube on Saturday after advertising it on the Facebook website.

Several other parties were also organised through Facebook, leading to violent scenes and assaults on police and Tube staff. Mr Graham posted a picture of himself drinking champagne on the Facebook website during his "Circle Line Party - Last Day of Drinking on the Tube" - but subsequently removed all trace following the furore that it caused, including deep embarrassment to the bank.

Contacted yesterday, Mr Graham said he could no longer speak to the media. "I cannot really talk to you. Sorry," he said. His sister Stephanie said she too could not speak to the Standard but indicated her brother had been harshly treated. "That would be fair to say," she said.

Mr Graham's co-organiser Ian Rawlings said their party - made up of between 75 and 100 Facebook friends - had left the Tube by about 7.15pm, long before violence broke out.

"We just wanted to have a bit of fun," said Mr Rawlings, an exhibition events executive. "It was the last chance to drink on the Tube although it is not something we would normally do. It just got a bit out of hand later that night when people were getting silly but fortunately it was nothing to do with us."

Mr Rawlings said at least one independent witness had offered to submit a report with detailed timings to the RBS if Mr Graham faced disciplinary proceedings. "If Mr Graham had been sacked I would have heard - and I haven't," said Mr Rawlings, from Saffron Walden. "He had a busy week at work and I haven't heard from him."

Mr Graham studied at Loughborough University before landing a job on the graduate trainee scheme at RBS, earning between £30,000 and £45,000, according to his entry on MySpace. He moved to London from Edinburgh, where the bank is based, this year.

While still able to talk to the Standard on Monday, Mr Graham claimed that he organised the party - in part at least - in support of a friend who had lost her job following Boris Johnson's mayoral election victory.

"One of my friends worked for Ken in the environment department but was sacked after he left - it's any excuse to get at Boris," he said. "The point of it was just to make fun of how ridiculous the ban is. I am not the biggest Boris fan and it seems to me that this is a quick fix to put him in line with his voters."

But the claim a woman had been sacked baffled City Hall. A spokesman said: "We haven't heard of anything to suggest this is true."