Christmas in Germany?
“Sun”: Boris Becker could soon be deported
11/14/2022, 10:12 am
Actually, the former tennis star Boris Becker has to stay in a British prison for around two years. But now everything could be very different. According to a media report, the former icon could be released earlier, and he would then be spared behind bars on Christmas Eve.
According to a report in the British newspaper “Sun”, ex-tennis star Boris Becker, who was imprisoned in Great Britain, could soon be deported to Germany. The 54-year-old had been approved for an accelerated procedure that enables foreign prisoners to be released much earlier, the tabloid wrote.
“He’s been signed up for a program to get him home in time for Christmas,” a prison source was quoted as saying by The Sun. Becker’s German lawyer Christian-Oliver Moser did not want to comment on the newspaper report when asked.
At the end of April, Becker was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for concealing assets worth millions from his insolvency administrators. He has been held in Huntercombe Prison west of London, which has a lower security rating, for several months.
Prisons apparently overcrowded
Under UK law, prisoners can be paroled when they have served at least half of their sentence. For Becker, that would be 15 months, the deadline is July 29, 2023. According to the Sun, the release and deportation program is intended to help relieve the pressure on overcrowded British prisons. Accordingly, every foreign prisoner who can be released from prison and deported up to twelve months before the earliest release date is eligible.
A spokesman for the UK Home Office told the newspaper: “Any foreign national sentenced to prison for a criminal offense is eligible for deportation at the earliest opportunity.”
The “Sun” also quoted a former spokesman for Becker: “We are happy for Boris that he qualifies for early release and can travel to Germany, although England has been his home for many, many years.” He was sure “that it will mean a lot to him and his family to be reunited at Christmas”.
