A HOMELESS man desperate to escape life on the streets rang police and claimed to have planted a nail bomb on a train.

Luke Cartwright made a hoax 999 call just days after completing a jail sentence that had been handed down for an identical crime, Southampton Crown Court was told.

Cartwright hated being homeless and committed the new offence to ensure he would soon be back behind bars, the court was told.

The troubled 26-year-old, whose voice during the 10-minute call was described as “delicate and pitiful”, was jailed for 10 months.

Mary Aspinall-Miles, prosecuting, said Cartwright went into a telephone kiosk outside Lymington railway station and dialled 999, telling the woman who answered: “I’ve done something stupid – I’ve put a bomb on a train.”

Cartwright claimed that the “bomb” was hidden in a black rucksack on a Lymington to Brockenhurst train that had just left the station.

Miss Aspinall-Miles said the defendant told the call-handler he was “fed up with being homeless” after being released from prison a week earlier for the previous offence.

“The call-handler got the impression he wanted to be remanded in custody,” she said.

Cartwright was still in the kiosk when police arrived and gave officers his real name, making no attempt to escape or hide his identity, the court heard.

Miss Aspinall-Miles added: “He said there wasn’t a bomb on the train – it was simply a hoax.

“He was known to the emergency services for making that sort of call.”

The court heard that Cartwright was jailed for nine months in 2014 after making a hoax bomb threat to The Manor Hotel at Sway.

He received another custodial sentence last summer after claiming to have planted a nail bomb on a train, the court was told.

Chris Graiger, in mitigation, said Cartwright was released on February 5 this year but had nowhere to go.

He added: “In a matter of days he was back in custody, which he felt provided him with security and stability. He said he couldn’t hack it on the streets.”

Cartwright, of no fixed address, admitted making a hoax call.

The Judge, Mr Recorder Rose, said: “The call was taken seriously but not for very long - we are talking a matter of minutes.

“But the capacity of this sort of incident to cause a great deal of fear and distress cannot be under-estimated.”

Cartwright was told he would serve half his sentence before being released on licence.

He would then be subject to post-sentence supervision.