An epileptic man who grew cannabis to treat his condition was caught by police after he left his irrigation system running and flooded the flat beneath his.

Richard Griffiths had been using cannabis instead of conventional medication for 20 years and started two growing operations to save him the £80-a-week cost of buying from street dealers.

He spent £1,200 on equipment and learned how to grow the drug from videos on Youtube and planned to make his own cannabis oil.

The 34-year-old has stopped using cannabis and returned to prescribed medication since his arrest last month but says his epilepsy has worsened as a result.

He believes he should be allowed grow and use cannabis and that the current law is wrong, Exeter Crown Court was told.

The growing operations at Teignmouth and Paignton were so successful he produced a surplus which he sold. He planned to make £50,000 from growing drugs and use the money to get a home and pay off debts.

His case follows the decision by the Home Office to allow the use of cannabis oil to treat 11-year-old Billy Caldwell and to authorise medical trials to assess its potentially beneficial effects on patients.

Griffiths, of Totnes Road, Paignton, admitted two counts of producing cannabis and one of supply and was jailed for a year, suspended for 21 months, by Judge Peter Johnson.

He told him he believed he had a good social ethic after hearing how he had acted as a foster parent for a troubled young relative and helped them get back into mainstream education.

He said: ‘You deserve credit for that and your guilty pleas and admissions, but lets not beat about the bush, this may have started to produce your own cannabis for medicinal aspects, but one of the main drivers behind the large scale production was to make money.’

Miss Emily Pitts, prosecuting, said growing tents containing a total of 95 plants at different stages of growth were found after a neighbour living beneath Griffith’s flat in Paignton complained about water coming through her roof.

He had forgotten to turn one of the taps off but told police he was growing only for his own supply. A few days later, police raided his other address at Barn Park Terrace, Teignmouth, and found the rest of the plants.

Griffiths then admitted he had already sold part of his first crop for £5,300, planned to grow 8.5 kilos and make £50,000 by selling it wholesale for £150 an ounce.

Miss Francesca Whebell, defending, said Griffiths started using cannabis recreationally when he was 14 but discovered it was more effective than medication in controlling his epilepsy and used it until his arrest.

She said: ‘He has long-standing health difficulties and when he was 14 came off medication. His plan was to clear his debts through growing cannabis and provide a medicinal element for himself. He planned to turn some into cannabis oil.’

A probation report said he felt cannabis did him so much good he was prepared to break the law and felt it was only a small step from growing it for himself to selling it to others.