NatWest bankers 'home within year'

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David Bermingham, Gary Mulgrew and Giles Darby, all 45, were extradited to the US under a controversial treaty 20 months ago and pleaded guilty at the US district court in Houston, Texas, in November following a deal with prosecutors.

Judge Ewing Werlein Jr ordered them all to serve 37 months behind bars and pay back a total of 7.3 million dollars (£3.5 million) to the Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest's owner, when he sentenced them.

Lawyers for the men said the bankers hoped to be transferred to a UK prison within six to nine months.

The judge said he was impressed by the number of letters he had received which vouched for the "favourable qualities" of the three men.

But he said: "To finally regain that respect is going to involve paying back the Royal Bank of Scotland every dollar or, over there, every pound."

All three defendants apologised in court during the hour-long sentencing.

All three men said they wanted to report to Allenwood Prison in Pennsylvania and a decision on whether they will be able to serve some of their sentence in the UK will be made by the Bureau of Prisons at a later date.

No date for their reporting to jail was set.

In return for the guilty pleas to one count of wire fraud, US prosecutors asked for the six other counts to be dismissed and supported the trio's bid to "serve some of the sentence" in the UK.