A man was labelled a suicide bomber by his pals, arrested on suspicion of being a terrorist and forced to change his name and flee his home town — all because of a tattoo.

Warehouse operative Shane Hicks had the New York skyline inked on his arm as a tribute to those who lost their lives in the 9/11 Twin Towers terror attacks in New York.

But the father-of-one said his life turned into a nightmare — as people misunderstood why he had the tattoo because his appearance.

Mr Hicks, aged 34, from Kearsley, who is now having his tattoo removed, said: “At first it was just jokes and the odd insult, but then people started to say things like I was a suicide bomber.

“They were seriously accusing me of being a terrorist.

“I think people got the wrong impression.

“I started to hide the tattoo as much as possible, but you can’t cover it up all the time and it was just above my elbow. It was very visible when I had short sleeves on.”

He added: “I felt very passionately about what happened. So many innocent people were killed that I thought it would be a way to remember them.

“But people assumed I had the tattoo for the wrong reasons.”

Mr Hicks, who got the tattoo two years after the 2001 attacks, said his life only got worse after the 7/7 terror attacks in London in 2005.

He said he was arrested by police on the London Underground in autumn of that year and held in custody for six hours on suspicion of being terrorist.

Mr Hicks said: “I’m a normal person and I don’t support terrorism at all. But as I am originally from Iran I was immediately considered suspicious when the police saw my tattoo.”

Eventually, Mr Hicks decided to change his name and move from Coventry to Bolton to start a new life.

He now works in Wigan and lives with his wife and daughter in Melrose Close.

He has had three tattoo removal sessions at Laserase Bolton and could need up to 10 to remove all of his tattoo.

A removal of this type usually costs about £60 per session. And he warns people to think twice before getting inked.

Mr Hicks said: “That was the first and last tattoo I will ever have. You can’t just change your mind and wash it off. I would say to people thinking of having a tattoo ‘don’t do it’.”

Soon after moving to Bolton, a friend of Shane’s recommended that he contact Laserase Bolton, who put together an affordable laser tattoo removal package for him, which was a massive relief for Shane.

“That was the first and last tattoo I will ever have. You can’t just change your mind and wash it off and I would say to people thinking of having a tattoo ‘don’t do it’.”

By Charlotte Dobson.