Supreme Court of Canada to hear Churchill portrait thief’s sentence appeal

OTTAWA — The man who stole the “Roaring Lion” portrait of Winston Churchill from the Château Laurier in Ottawa will have a chance to appeal his sentence in the Supreme Court of Canada.

The famous image was snapped by photographer Yousuf Karsh during Churchill’s wartime visit to the Canadian Parliament in December 1941.

Jeffrey Wood stole the portrait in January 2022, replaced it with a cheap copy and sold the original through a London auction house.

The print was returned to public display at the Ottawa hotel with help from authorities in the United Kingdom and Italy.

Wood was sentenced in May 2025 to two years less a day in jail after pleading guilty to the theft.

The Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed his sentence appeal in a two-to-one ruling.