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Boris Becker

Boris Becker freed from UK prison, expected to be deported

LONDON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - German tennis star Boris Becker, 55, has been freed from a British prison, the government said on Thursday, meaning he is now expected to be deported from the country.
Reuters
Boris Becker due to be sentenced in his bankruptcy trial Former tennis champion Boris Becker arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London, Britain, 29 April 2022. EPA-EFE/ANDY RAIN

In April, Becker, a six-times Grand Slam champion, was jailed for two years and six months by a London court for hiding hundreds of thousands of pounds of assets after he was declared bankrupt.

"Any foreign national who is convicted of a crime and given a prison sentence is considered for deportation at the earliest opportunity," the Home Office said in a statement while declining to comment directly on Becker's case.

Becker had previously been convicted of tax evasion in Germany in 2002, for which he received a suspended prison sentence.

The former tennis great had won his first Wimbledon final in 1985 aged 17 becoming the youngest and first unseeded player to claim the men's singles title. He went on to two win more Wimbledon titles.

Becker had denied all the charges in relation to the London court proceedings, saying he had cooperated with the bankruptcy proceedings - even offering up his wedding ring - and had relied on his advisers.

(Reporting by Sarah Young and Andrew MacAskill; editing by William James)

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