LONDON – German tennis star Boris Becker, 55, has been freed from a British prison, the government said on Thursday (Dec 15), meaning he is now expected to be deported from the country.
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 win two more Wimbledon titles.
Becker had denied all the charges in relation to the London court proceedings, saying he had co-operated with the bankruptcy proceedings – even offering up his wedding ring – and had relied on his advisers.
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