A London Marathon impostor who swiped a lost race number to see "a dream come true" has been jailed for 16 weeks.

Stanislaw Skupian crossed the finish line with legitimate runner Jake Halliday's number after spotting it 300 metres from the end of the 26.2-mile race, Uxbridge Magistrates' Court heard on Thursday.

The homeless 38-year-old was pictured celebrating with a finisher's medal he was handed for crossing the finish line on April 22, and dedicated his run to his seven-year-old son.

Mr Halliday, who was running for charity Bloodwise, dropped his number after stopping short of the finish line to take off his T-shirt during the hottest London Marathon on record.

Friends later told him someone had been pictured celebrating with his number, with Mr Halliday saying he was "shocked", the court heard.

Defending, Jameela Jamroz said father-of-one Skupian harboured ambitions of running the race and had started training for it.

She said: "He wanted to be there, he was excited. He wanted to see the runners. He says by chance he saw a race identifier on the floor.