A TROUBLED man rang up the police and told them he had planted nail bomb on a train, Southampton Crown Court heard.

An officer went to Southampton Central train station and found the culprit, Luke Cartwright, still on the phone and he admitted making the call.

Prosecutor Robert Griffiths said Cartwright had caught the train at Lymington to go to London and had intended to kill himself.

He claimed he had placed the nail bomb with a timer to go off at 8pm on a train.

Cartwright claimed he had placed the device in a black rucksack which he placed under the seat in the middle compartment.

The court heard he had also taken a legal high called Spice which had the same affect as cannabis.

Police, said Mr Griffiths, had to take the incident seriously and a guard checked a train.

A security camera however captured Cartwright walking up and down the station, and he confessed he had been walking the streets in Southampton since 8am.

He told police he remembered being in the phone box and making the call but denied he had been drinking or had taken a legal high. He added he didn’t know why he had done it.

The court heard Cartwright had been jailed for nine months last year for a similar incident when he told the manager of the Manor Hotel in Sway there was a bomb in the building.

Cartwright, 25, of no fixed abode, admitted making a bomb hoax call.

“A pretty unsophisticated offence of its type,” said Judge Nicholas Rowland who adjourned sentence for Cartwright to be assessed for a possible psychiatric report.

He was remanded in custody until July 24.