A BUNGLING crook was sent to jail after attempting to grow cannabis, only to be foiled when he flooded his neighbour's flat.

Paul Kelly, 41, was sentenced to 18 months in prison after police found him cultivating the plants when the neighbour raised the alarm as water used to feed the crops seeped into the flat below in Woodfield Road, Hadleigh.

Basildon Crown Court yesterday heard that father of one Kelly immediately confessed to his landlord, and said "I've been growing cannabis, please don't call the police."

He actually lost money on the project, as the plants were not ripe for harvest when cops raided the flat on August 25, and he had to repair two leaks.

Officers found 86 plants which could have been sold for £5, 800 if they had matured.

Lee Wilcockson, mitigating, said: "The way the offence was discovered sums up Mr Kelly's naivety.

"It showed his honestly when he didn't make up a story to the landlord - he could have said he left his bath running or something - and he did not try to destroy the equipment."

The plants had been grown  using hydroponics equipment, electricity had been extracted illegally to the tune of £800.

Sentencing him, judge Jonathan Black said: "This was a sophisticated set-up and you were also diverting electricity.

"The most aggravating factor was that you were motivated by purely financial gain."

Kelly, of Burnham Road, Latchingdon, Chelmsford, rented the Woodford Road property to grow cannabis.

The court heard that the painter and decorator started the factory to pay off debts.