Jail for impostor who ‘finished’ marathon with stolen number
A LONDON Marathon impostor who stole a lost race number to claim the glory of crossing the finish line has been jailed for 16 weeks.
Stanislaw Skupian crossed the finish line with the number belonging to Jake Halliday, a legitimate runner, after spotting it 300m from the end of the 26.2mile race, Uxbridge magistrates’ court heard yesterday.
The homeless 38-year-old, who has lived in the UK for around 11 years, 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, had dropped his number after stopping to take off his Tshirt during the hottest London Marathon on record. Friends later told him someone had been pictured with his number, with Mr Halliday saying he was “shocked”, the court heard.
Jameela Jamroz, defending, said Skupian harboured ambitions of running the race. She said: “He wanted to be there. He was excited. He says by chance he saw a race identifier on the floor.
“In his excitement, he picked up the identifier, thinking this was his chance to compete in the marathon. He joined in and completed the latter part.
“At the time he hadn’t fully appreciated that he was doing anything wrong. He dedicated the completion to his son and to homeless people to inspire them that good things can happen to those less fortunate.” Nick Bitel, the chief executive of London Marathon Events, said the episode could be seen to damage the reputation and integrity of the race, regarded as one of the most well organised in the world, the court heard.
Skupian suffered a neck injury in a car accident at the end of last year, forcing him to take sick leave, Ms Jamroz said. He also separated from his wife and became homeless.
Before the race, Mr Skupian suffered a temporary breakdown in his mental state, she added.
He was later arrested after police searched a prayer room at Heathrow Airport, which he saw as a temporary home, and he was found with a school worker’s ID and a diary of overtime worked by airline staff.
Skupian, who wore a grey jumper and used a Polish translator, pleaded guilty last month to fraud by false representation and to three unrelated counts of theft. He was sentenced to 13 weeks’ jail for fraud and three weeks for the theft offences, to be served consecutively. He was also given a criminal behaviour order banning him from Heathrow Airport for three years unless he had a pre-booked flight ticket for that day.