Police have issued a European arrest warrant for a Scottish man wanted for attempted rape after he turned a young student’s family holiday on board a Maltese-flagged cruise ship into a nightmare.

The incident happened last summer on Royal Caribbean’s MV Reflection. On the evening of July 23, the British student who was travelling with her mother, father and younger brother said her drink was spiked by a fellow passenger who then indecently assaulted her and tried to rape her. She recovered consciousness in the cabin and found herself in a compromising position.

On returning to the UK, the police interviewed the victim and gathered evidence from her and the cruise liner. Her alleged assailant is Scottish, but since the incident took place in international waters any criminal proceedings must be instituted in Malta, the country where the cruise ship was flagged.

Her lawyer, Simon Gallant, got in touch with Times of Malta after he had heard nothing from local law enforcement authorities for six months. He even wrote to the Maltese High Commissioner in London twice but said he got no reply. The letters were seen by this newspaper.

“Notwithstanding the fact that the British police have forwarded their evidence to the Maltese vice squad through Interpol, nothing discernible has been done to investigate the matter,” Dr Gallant wrote.

Fearing this case was not being given the attention it deserved, Dr Gallant told this newspaper Malta has a legal and moral obligation to assist his client.

“Although she has been receiving counselling, the memories of the incident affect her every day.”

The High Commissioner’s office in London said action had been taken and the information had been forwarded to the relevant authorities in Malta.

The police said that the case was a sensitive one and they had to proceed with caution. A few days later they confirmed that a European arrest warrant had been issued following collaboration with “foreign police counterparts” and the victim’s local legal representative.