Churchill Photo Thief was sentenced to two years in Canadian Prison

A Canadian man has been sentenced to almost two years in prison for stealing a famous photo of Sir Winston Churchill, known as the “roaring lion”.

Jeffrey Wood pleaded guilty to stealing the original print from the Château Laurier Hotel on Ottawa between Christmas 2021 and early January 2022. He also acknowledged that he had made forgery.

The photo of the British prime minister in wartime taken by Yusuf Karsh in 1941 is distinguished by the note of £ 5 £ 5.

Ottawa police said it was found last year in Genoa, Italy, in the possession of a private buyer who was not aware that he was stolen.

The image depicts a frowning Churchill, who was 67 years old at the time, shortly after he had a speech to the Canadian Parliament.

It was not until August 2022 that a member of hotel employees realized that the original photo had been replaced with a fake.

According to Canadian media, Wood said he had taken the photo to find money for his brother, who suffers from mental health problems.

During the sentence, justice Robert Waden said, “This is a national pride that a portrait made by a Canadian photographer would achieve such glory.”

“There is an element of trust in our society, which allows such properties to be displayed, to use all Canadians. To steal, damage and traffic in such a property is to break this trust,” he added.

“We are very happy to see that Canadian history is recognized,” says Geneviev Dumas, General Manager of the Château Laurier Hotel, according to The Canadian radiation corporationS

Wood was sentenced to “two years less a day”, a distinction, which means that I will serve my sentence at a provincial institution instead of a federal prison.

The lawyer representing Wood said the sentence was “unnecessary raw”, given that he was a criminal for the first time.