Warning to all would-be terrorists: John Smeaton is back on duty today

Four weeks after an eventful cigarette break propelled him into the bosom of a worldwide internet fanbase, via the front page of the Wall Street Journal and praise in the House of Commons, John Smeaton will at last return to work.

Come 2pm today, Mr Smeaton will step back into the breach in his position as a senior ramp assistant at Glasgow Airport, with CNN - the US-based news channel that aired one of his first interviews - even sending a crew back to Scotland to document his return to Airway Handling Ltd.

In the month that has passed since the baggage handler helped overpower a suspect in the foiled terror attack on the Renfrewshire hub last month, Mr Smeaton's life has changed beyond recognition.

From the moment his adrenalin- fuelled Glaswegian patois was broadcast across rolling news channels, Mr Smeaton's uncompromising recount of his actions won him an army of admirers. His blunt remarks rang true with viewers, particularly when he stated: "This is Glasgow - we'll just set aboot ye," and chided one alleged bomber thus: "You're nae hitting the polis mate, there's nae chance."

A website, visited by 500,000 people in its first 48 hours, paid an affectionate - albeit increasingly parodic - tribute. Mr Smeaton was, at one point, hailed as the man so hard that he makes even onions cry.

Visitors to the site even raised 2,100 from people pledging to buy Mr Smeaton a congratulatory pint. He has since donated half the money to Erskine, the charity which cares for injured military veterans, and will use the rest to fund a night out for other people involved in thwarting the bombing attempt.

As the media clamour increased, Mr Smeaton has, however, found it difficult to cope with all that has happened to him. Diagnosed by his GP as suffering from stress, he has said he cannot stop thinking "of that guy covered in flames with his skin hanging off".

His unexpected fame, has brought benefits, however. He seldom has had to put his hand in his pocket while in a public house, and he has been signed up by the tabloid press to tell his story.

In recent weeks, Mr Smeaton has even had the opportunity to meet Billy Connolly, during which the comedian rebuffed Mr Smeaton's claims that he was the baggage handler's hero, insisting that the reverse was true.

Even now that he is returning to work, however, Mr Smeaton, who lives with his parents in Erskine, Renfrewshire, can still expect high-profile company. Next month, he will be invited to an official reception in Glasgow hosted by the First Minister, Alex Salmond.

The folk hero is, furthermore, tipped for a place on the New Year's Honours List.

FREED SUSPECT HEADS FOR HOME

AN INDIAN doctor who was jailed in Australia on terror charges said yesterday he was happy to be free and insisted he had no knowledge of his relatives' alleged involvement in the attacks on Glasgow airport and London.

Mohamed Haneef flew from Brisbane, Australia, to Bangkok yesterday and on to Bangalore, in southern India, to be reunited with his family.

Dr Haneef was arrested at Brisbane airport on 2 July as he was about to fly to India to see his wife and newborn daughter - just days after his second cousins in Britain were arrested following the failed terror plot.

He was released on Friday after Australia's chief prosecutor, Damian Bugg, said there was no evidence to support the charge that Dr Haneef provided reckless support to a terrorist organisation. The charge arose because Dr Haneef gave his phone SIM card to one of his second cousins - accused in a bomb plot in June - when he left Britain for Australia a year earlier.