Particle.news
Download on the App Store
14 ARTICLES
·
yesterday

Jeffrey Wood given nearly two years for stealing Churchill portrait

His lawyer intends to appeal following an international probe that traced the stolen 1941 Karsh photograph to Italy to secure its repatriation in September 2024.

Jeffrey Wood, centre, arrives at the Ottawa courthouse alongside Lawrence Greenspon, right, and Hannah Drennan for a hearing in Ottawa, on Friday, March 14, 2025.
A 2009 photo of Estrellita Karsh in front of Yousuf Karsh’s famed “Roaring Lion” portrait of Winston Churchill, taken in Ottawa in 1941.
Image
Image

Overview

  • Jeffrey Wood, who pleaded guilty in March to theft, forgery and trafficking charges, was sentenced Monday to two years less a day in custody.
  • Justice Robert Wadden described the stolen photograph as a cultural and historical treasure and said its removal breached public trust in displaying national icons.
  • Wood’s lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, announced plans to launch an appeal within 10 days, calling the sentence “unnecessarily harsh” for a first-time offender.
  • The portrait was taken by Yousuf Karsh in 1941, stolen from Chateau Laurier between December 2021 and January 2022 and discovered swapped for a fake in August 2022 before its recovery in Italy.
  • The 1941 portrait by Yousuf Karsh, often referred to as “The Roaring Lion” and featured on the UK £5 note, has been rehung at Chateau Laurier under enhanced security measures.