Decorator flooded B&B in revenge for rejection

 A decorator who flooded a woman’s B&B after she rejected his amorous advances has avoided jail.

Kevin Hartley broke in, left shower heads on the floor and covered up plugholes in what he called a “spur-of-the-moment act” while “extremely drunk”. The 35-year-old apologised and was given a 20-month suspended prison sentence.

“You behaved in a most disgraceful manner,” Judge Nicholas Clarke QC told him at Carlisle Crown Court.

The painter was working at Glenfield House in Carlisle, Cumbria, for Katherine King. But the court heard he began acting “inappropriately”.

During the break-in, he removed keys from bedroom doors apparently to prevent police getting in. Three ceilings collapsed and Miss King lost thousands of pounds in earnings.

Hartley, of Whitehaven, admitted burglary with intent to do unlawful damage. He was also given a rehabilitation requirement and a restraining order.