Canadian Convicted for Theft of Churchill's Iconic Portrait

ottawa - A Canadian, Jeffrey Wood, has been sentenced for stealing Winston Churchill's 'The Roaring Lion' portrait from a hotel in Ottawa, replacing it with a fake version.

Canadian Convicted for Theft of Churchill's Iconic Portrait

Jeffrey Wood has been found guilty of stealing the famous 'The Roaring Lion' portrait of Winston Churchill from the Château Laurier hotel in Ottawa.

The Theft and Replacement

Wood stole the photo, taken by Canadian Yousuf Karsh in 1941 and featured on the British £5 note, between Christmas 2021 and January 2022. He replaced the original with a fake version.

In August 2022, a hotel staff member noticed the original photo of a 67-year-old frowning Churchill missing from the frame. It was later discovered in Genoa, Italy, in possession of an Italian lawyer who had purchased it from Wood.

Legal Proceedings and Sentencing

Wood claimed he stole the portrait to raise money for his mentally ill brother. Despite it being his first offense, he was sentenced to two years in prison, a decision criticized by his lawyer as excessively harsh.

The original portrait has been reinstated at the Château Laurier hotel in Ottawa since mid-November.