A MAN who tried to fraudulently cash a cheque was foiled because the assistant had gone to school with his brother.

Blackburn magistrates heard Patrick Dominic Hartley had gone to the money shop with ID provided by the cheque holder’s girlfriend and would probably have got away with the fraud if he hadn’t been recognised.

Hartley, 25, of Brothers Street, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to making a false representation.

He was given a conditional discharge for 12 months and ordered to pay £85 costs.

Jonathan Taylor, defending, had been trying to help his partner’s cousin.