Boris Becker faces deportation after prison sentence

Boris Becker is likely to be deported from the UK after he is released from prison, Home Office sources have confirmed.

Former tennis player Boris Becker arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London. Picture: AFP

Boris Becker is likely to be deported from the UK after he is released from prison, Home Office sources have confirmed.

The former Wimbledon champion will qualify for automatic deportation because he is a foreign national without British citizenship given a prison sentence of more than 12 months.

Becker, 54, was jailed for two and a half years last week for concealing assets worth pounds 2.5 million to avoid paying money he owed after his bankruptcy. He will serve half of the full sentence.

He has lived in the UK since 2012 but is not understood to have British citizenship. The Home Office does not comment on individual cases but a source confirmed Becker’s sentence would make him eligible for automatic deportation under the Borders Act 2007. The source said: “Any foreign national convicted of a crime and given a prison sentence is considered for deportation at the earliest opportunity.”

Becker could appeal against deportation by using the Human Rights Act or applying for the order to be withdrawn on the basis of compassionate circumstances. Article 8 of the Human Rights Act is often used by foreign criminals to escape deportation as it protects their right to a family life. The government has announced plans to restrict the ability to use Article 8 to prevent deportation as part of its Bill of Rights, which will replace the Human Rights Act.

Becker has a 12-year-old son, Amadeus, with his estranged wife Sharley Lilly Becker, to whom he remains close.

Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro. Picture: AFP

His girlfriend, Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro, visited him in HMP Wandsworth for the first time yesterday. The jail, a Victorian-era prison, is two miles from Wimbledon, where he won his first championship in 1985.

Appeals can be expensive and take up to a year. Leon Glenister, a barrister at Landmark Chambers, said Becker might have to choose between paying pounds 30,000 for legal representation or represent himself. “The presumption is he will receive a deportation order but although one has to consider his right to a family life, I can’t see that is going to give him much hope,” Glenister told The Guardian.

There are 11,000 foreigners who have been released but not deported.

Lawyers said Becker’s case could set a legal precedent if the courts rule that his crimes continued after the Brexit withdrawal agreement came into effect in January last year, which made immigration law for EU nationals stricter.

Colin Yeo, an immigration barrister, said: “If the criminal conduct took place after 31 December 2020 then Becker is subject to automatic deportation because he received a sentence of 12 months or more. If the conduct took place before that date, he benefits from the EU-UK withdrawal agreement. He would still be considered for deportation and the Home Office would be likely to attempt to deport him but he’d have a stronger legal case for staying.”

The Times