Stealing a well-known picture of Sir Winston Churchill known as “The Roaring Lion,” a Canadian man has been sentenced to almost two years in jail.
Jeffrey Wood had entered a guilty plea to theft of the original print from Ottawa’s Château Laurier hotel between Christmas 2021 and early January 2022. He also acknowledged to forgery.
Taken in 1941, Yousuf Karsh’s picture of Britain’s war-time prime minister is on the UK £5 note.
Last year, Ottawa Police said, it was discovered in Genoa, Italy, in the custody of a private buyer ignorant of its theft.
The picture shows a frowning Churchill, 67 at the time, just after he spoke to the Canadian parliament.
A hotel employee discovered the original photo had been replaced with a phony only in August 2022.
Canadian media claims Wood shot the picture in search of funds for his brother, who was dealing with mental health issues.
Justice Robert Wadden remarked during sentence, “It is a point of national pride that a portrait taken by a Canadian photographer would have achieved such fame.”
“There is a component of trust in our society that lets such qualities be exhibited and enjoyed by every Canadian. To steal, damage and traffic in such property is to betray that trust,” he said.
According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Geneviève Dumas, the general manager of the Château Laurier hotel, expressed great delight at seeing Canadian history acknowledged.
