A man has been sentenced to nearly two years in prison for stealing a famous portrait of Sir Winston Churchill from a hotel in Ottawa, Canada. The artwork, known as the "Roaring Lion," is well-known in the UK as it appears on the £5 note.
The theft occurred between Christmas Day 2021 and January 6, 2022, at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier hotel. The real portrait was replaced with a fake, and the switch went unnoticed until August 2022 when a hotel employee spotted that the frame was not hung correctly and looked different from others.
The stolen portrait was auctioned off in London and ended up in Rome, where Canadian detectives eventually recovered it. Both the seller and the buyer were unaware that the artwork had been stolen.
Jeffrey Wood, the man responsible for the theft, was arrested and confessed to stealing the portrait, committing forgery, and trafficking stolen property. He was sentenced to "two years less a day" in prison at the Ottawa Courthouse, meaning he will serve his time in a provincial jail.
During the court proceedings, the judge emphasized that Wood had taken a piece of cultural and historical significance, which was a source of national pride. Wood claimed he committed the crime to raise money to support his brother, who was struggling with mental health issues.
The investigation into the theft involved multiple countries and stretched across two continents before leading to Wood’s arrest. After the portrait was recovered, it was returned to the hotel in November, where it is now securely displayed. The hotel’s general manager assured that it is well-protected, joking that staff accidentally triggered the alarm while hanging it up.
The "Roaring Lion" portrait was captured by the renowned Armenian-Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh in 1941, shortly after Churchill delivered an inspiring speech to Canadian politicians. Karsh later signed and gifted the portrait to the hotel, making its theft even more significant to the local community.