The British police have dropped charges against a young Maltese man who found himself at the centre of a train evacuation last January when a passenger accused him of being a bomb-carrying terrorist.

Half a dozen police officers stormed the train, threw him to the ground, handcuffed him and took him away to a prison cell

Daniel Gatt, 26, is now on a mission to clear his name in Malta where people who followed the news item had accused him of being a prankster who should be jailed for life.

Others had sympathised with him, assuming he had dark Maltese complexion that triggered someone’s paranoia or that he must have been heard using the colloquial Maltese expression for approval – “bomba”.

But the smartly-dressed young man, who has almost Nordic complexion and very light brown hair, insists he was simply the victim of a prank by another passenger, who should be the one reprimanded.

“I was on a train from Southampton to London to spend the night with some friends before catching my flight the next morning,” he recounted.

“I had just finished a course and had been given all the certificates and results. I got full marks, so I was very happy and I was on the phone with my dad telling him all about it.”

Sitting opposite him was a young British lady, “wearing a hoodie and headphones”, who suddenly moved away, called the police and reported him to the train’s conductor.

The conductor approached Mr Gatt while he was still on the phone with his father, who overheard what was going on.

“Apparently, the passenger thought she heard me say I was going to ‘blow up the train in 10 minutes’. But I was speaking in English and I’m sure I didn’t even say anything like ‘bomba’,” Mr Gatt said.

Before he knew it, half a dozen police officers stormed the train, threw him to the ground, handcuffed him and took him away to a prison cell where he would spend 11 hours.

“I wasn’t aggressive when I was being arrested but I told the police to make sure they don’t forget my suitcase and jacket because I had a lot of important documents and certificates with me.”

Mr Gatt believes the passenger made the whole thing up to spite him. She did not flee the train but stayed there until the police arrived. And after he was arrested, her friend smiled and made a rude gesture in his regard.

“Maybe she just didn’t like me because I sounded foreign,” he said.

The train station was evacuated, causing long delays, which inconvenienced commuters and resulted in the press being alerted to the incident.

Since he was arrested on suspicion of being a terrorist, Mr Gatt was not even given the right to make a phone call or speak to his own lawyer.

“I had worried friends waiting for me in London. They even filed a missing person’s report. Meanwhile, my fiancée and parents back home were also worried about what became of me.”

When the police realised he had no bomb on him, they thought he was a hoaxer and warned him he could spend 18 months in jail for such pranks.

When he was assigned a legal aid lawyer, he was informed that he had nothing to worry about. Sure enough, the police who interrogated him believed his story and he was released on bail, allowing him to make his flight, even though he was forced to catch a £200 taxi ride.

He also had to return last week where he was told the charges against him had been dropped after the police screened CCTV footage, which convinced them of his innocence.

Does he feel the police should have acted differently?

“If I were a serious threat, the police did their job well. And I understand they don’t want to press charges against the passenger because they will scare people into making such reports even when the case is genuine. But this passenger could have made me lose my job. At least, I expect an apology.”

He also has a message for the “haters” on news sites like timesofmalta.com who were quick to judge before knowing all the facts.

“These things can be very hurtful,” Mr Gatt said.