A WALLASEY man whose past finally caught up with him appeared in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday.

John Hibbert was just 18 years old when he tried to burgle a Wallasey shop with two friends in a drunken prank.

Now 29 and known as John Foulds, a warrant issued for his arrest in December 1988 was finally executed after he was arrested on a drink-driving allegation.

Foulds, of Mill Lane, Liscard, admitted being in breach of bail and had pleaded guilty to attempted burglary 11 years before.

Judge William George told him that he had failed to come back to court after his sentence had been deferred to give him a chance.

"You neglected to take that opportunity and that is why it has come back to haunt you," he said.

After hearing that Foulds had largely kept out of trouble since that offence and had spent a night in custody after the warrant was executed, the judge fined him £25 for the bail offence and granted him a conditional discharge for six months for the attempted burglary.

His barrister Richard Pratt said that Foulds was the defendant's birth name but he changed to Hibbert when his mother married. That marriage has since ended and he reverted to the name Foulds.

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