Today’s stunning verdict completes a miserable fall from grace for the most famous British businessman in recent memory, and threatens to tarnish his reputation for years to come.

Lord Browne of Madingley, once dubbed the ‘Sun King’ of oil, transformed BP from a bit-part player into one of the biggest forces on the world stage through a series of mega-takeovers in the late 1990s.

After becoming chief executive in 1995, he changed not just the nature of the business, then reliant on the North Sea and Alaska, but the culture of the company and the image of the industry it began to dominate.

The amazing journey came unstuck with one terrible explosion at the Texas City refinery in 2005. The dramatic fallout from the blast, that killed 15 and injured more than 100 other workers, marked the start of a dramatic downturn.

Official reports questioned BP’s safety record and pointed to pressure within the business to cut costs, at all costs.

High-profile pipeline leaks at BP’s Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska dragged its environmental record through the mire, BP’s traders in the US were investigated for rigging the propane gas market and global production targets were missed.

From being known as ‘Blair Petroleum’ in recognition of its cosy links with the British Government, BP was being dubbed ‘Big Problems’.

The tarnished image affected Lord Browne deeply, given his 41 years with the company.

In what many thought would be the final blow, he agreed to the request by the chairman, Peter Sutherland, to step down this July, 17 months earlier than planned.

At his final BP annual general meeting last month, private shareholders, who have benefited from $100 billion (£50 million) returned to investors in the past decade, admitted it was maybe time for a change.

In his closing speech, a tired and weary looking Lord Browne told them to be confident that BP was heading in the right direction.

He thanked staff for their “resilience in the face of great challenges”. He will need such resilience now.

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