Police officers found a dopey Irvine stoner’s homegrown stash - after he unwittingly directed them straight to it.

Cops were called to McKinlay Crescent to investigate reports of a disturbance, and had been told Robert Low was involved.

Officers went to his door in the property and looked though the letterbox, spotting a ladder that was leading up to his loft.

They banged on the door in an attempt to gain entry to the property, believing someone may have been injured in a disturbance and sought refuge in the property.

Low, 30, took an age to answer, but eventually appeared at the kitchen window and then let officers inside.

Once inside the property, they noticed the ladder had been moved - but the loft hatch remained open and officers could smell cannabis.

And, realising his scheme had been rumbled, Low turned to the officers, put his head in his hands and said: “I’m f*****.”

The details emerged this week when Low appeared in the dock at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court over the discovery.

He pleaded guilty to a charge of producing a controlled drug, with a not guilty plea accepted to a charge of stealing electricity.

Procurator Fiscal Depute Blaire Ford told Sheriff George Jamieson the incident began at about 7.30pm on the day in question - October 29 last year.

The prosecutor explained: “Police witnesses, on mobile patrol, in a marked police vehicle, were requested to attend the locus in relation to a report of males being involved in a disturbance.

“On arrival, there were no persons present or signs of a disturbance.

“A witness directed police witnesses to McKinlay Crescent, stating males had entered a flat.

“Officers attended at the door but got no response, one officer looked through the letter box and could see a ladder behind the door.”

The officers kept trying the door and, eventually, Low appeared at the kitchen window, and the officers said they feared someone was injured within the property.

Low allowed the officers inside - and that proved to be his downfall, as they spotted the ladder had been moved and there was light and the smell of cannabis coming from the loft hatch.

Low was told officers would have to obtain a search warrant so they could search his loft, but he consented to the search, and officers found a tent containing polythene sheets.

The tent contained 21 plants, fans, UV lamps and ventilation pipes, while a second tent containing around 80 dead plants was also found.

Defence solicitor Peter Murray told the court that Low was a cannabis user who wanted to try and remove the middlemen to save himself money.

The lawyer explained: “This was irresponsible and he accepts there was a significant number of plants.

“This was all for his own consumption and would have been cropped and as he went along, in order to keep him supplied with this particular substance.”

After hearing that Low had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, and was waiting to receive his first Universal Credit payment, Sheriff Jamieson fined him £400, reduced from £600, for the offence.