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

Bruno Lair, assistant director of engineering at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier, jokingly checks to make sure the portrait is secure following a ceremony at the hotel, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024 in Ottawa. Lair discovered the 1941 Yousuf Karsh portrait had been stolen and replaced with a fake. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

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.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 30, 2026.

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press