At the age of 43, Kevin Spaine's life had spiralled out of control.
He was addicted to crack cocaine and homeless. The habitual offender had nearly 100 offences on his criminal record and had earned himself a ban from a large portion of Liverpool city centre, as well from an Aldi supermarket where he was particularly well-known for putting his talents for shoplifting to bad use.
It had not always been this way. Spaine of course found his police mugshot plastered across national newspapers this week as the boy who delivered the iconic "Accrington Stanley, who are they?" line in that famous 1980s advert for the Milk Marketing Board was convicted of murder.
