A senior banking executive died yesterday from injuries sustained after he tried to break up a street fight during a night out.

Frank McGarahan, 45, the chief operating officer of Barclays Wealth, was waiting for a taxi beside the Guildhall Hill rank in Norwich when he saw someone being assaulted. He went to intervene and was himself badly beaten.

He was taken by ambulance to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital after the attack, which happened at 3am on Sunday. Mr McGarahan’s condition was so serious, however, that he was immediately transferred to a specialist head injuries unit at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge.

Norfolk Police began a murder investigation after Mr McGarahan’s death yesterday.

A spokesman for Norwich Ambulance Service said that paramedics were called to the fight at 3.10am. “He had a heart attack caused by some sort of traumatic injury connected with the fight,” a spokesman said. “It seems that he was resuscitated and then died subsequently from his injuries.”

Mr McGarahan was assaulted outside Spearmint Rhino lap-dancing club, but police do not believe the club had any connection with the attack.

The site where the assault took place is said to be notorious for drunken behaviour and has been identified by police as a place where persistent street drinking takes place.

A family member said: “Frank was in a taxi queue with one of his younger brothers and another relative. They were at the back of a queue waiting quietly to go back to their hotel when they saw an assault taking place on a young man and his girlfriend by a mob of nine or ten blokes in their early 20s.

“Some other people in the queue were telling these guys to stop and Frank and one of his relatives did the same. Out of the blue, both got attacked. Frank was a fair-minded person. He wouldn’t see anyone treated unfairly.”

Mr McGarahan was in charge of 7,700 staff, managing the assets of some of the world’s most wealthy people. It is believed that he lived near Ware, Hertfordshire with his wife, Alison, and children aged 4 and 7 months.

A Norfolk Police spokesman said that Mr McGarahan had travelled to Norwich to attend a family christening on Sunday. The spokesman said that he had been out for a quiet drink with two other men, believed to be relatives or friends, when he was attacked. One of the men he was with suffered minor injuries.

A large group of men was reportedly seen running from the area after Mr McGarahan was attacked. Police are viewing closed-circuit television images of the city centre. Forensic science officers were yesterday still examining the cordoned-off area around the taxi rank. The police spokesman said that several lines of inquiry were being investigated.

A post-mortem examination is due to take place today.

Mr McGarahan graduated in law from Southampton University in 1985. He moved from Deutsche Bank to become head of compliance at Barclays Capital. He later became a managing director of Barclays Capital and in 2000 was made its global head of legal compliance. His rapid rise continued with promotion to chief operating officer of Barclays Wealth, Britain’s largest wealth manager, in charge of assets worth £133 billion in 21 countries.

A spokeswoman for Barclays said: “As it is a matter for police investigation, I am sure you will appreciate that we cannot say very much. We can confirm that he was the deceased and our thoughts are with his wife and family. They have asked for privacy.”

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