A teenager from St Mary’s County, Maryland last week admitted his part in a plot to hire a hitman to murder his mother and stepfather after the pair prevented him spending time with his PlayStation.

Corey Ryder, 17, told the local juvenile court he had been involved in attempting to persuade a man he believed to be a contract killer to off his folks, NBC4.com reports.

Unfortunately, the alleged hitman was an undercover cop tasked with revealing the plot after the mother of one of the boy's friends overheard Ryder discussing the murder of his own mother. The unnamed pal's mum reported the matter local police and was later asked to take Ryder, then aged 16, to meet the plain-clothes policeman on 2 June.

Ryder's conversation with the cop was enough to land him in custody facing an attempted murder charge.

Police claimed the undercover agent was offered a pick-up truck belonging to Ryder's stepfather, a computer operator, as payment for the deed. They claim the agent was told: "Two bullets ought to do it."

Ryder's actions followed punishments including the confiscation of his games console, being banned from watching TV and not being allowed out of the house. It was not revaled what he had done to warrant such treatment.

Ryder is due to be sentenced at the end of the month. He faces a sentence of up to four years in a juvenile detention centre, though he has to be freed when he reaches 21.