Home Office ‘could try to deport Boris Becker’ after prison term
Law states that foreign nationals with prison sentences over 12 months can be deported
The Home Office could attempt to deport Boris Becker from the UK under a law targeting foreign offenders, immigration lawyers have said.
The former Wimbledon champion was given a two-and-a-half year prison sentence last month for hiding assets to avoid paying debts.
Becker has lived in the UK for a decade but is not believed to hold British citizenship, meaning he could be subject to legislation targeting foreign national offenders.
The law states that foreign nationals sentenced to a period of imprisonment of at least 12 months can be deported at the end of their prison sentence.
Immigration barrister Colin Yeo wrote on Twitter that the Home Office would “normally try to deport someone with this sentence of imprisonment”.
“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,” he told the Guardian.
“If the conduct took place before that date, he benefits from the protection of 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.”
Asked whether Becker could be deported if he does not hold British citizenship, immigration lawyer Ivon Sampson told LBC radio: “The answer is yes, he could face automatic deportation because his sentence on his crime carried a sentence of more than 12 months.”
Judge Deborah Taylor, sitting at Southwark Crown Court, gave the six-time Grand Slam champion a 30-month sentence, of which he will serve half, for hiding £2.5m of assets and loans to avoid paying his debts.
The 54-year-old was declared bankrupt in 2017, owing creditors almost £50m, over an unpaid loan of more than £3m on his estate in Majorca, Spain.
He transferred almost 427,000 euros (around £390,000) from his business account to others, including those of his ex-wife Barbara Feltus and estranged wife Sharlely “Lilly” Becker.
The father-of-four also failed to declare his share in a £1m property in his home town of Leimen, Germany, hid an 825,000 euro (almost £700,000) bank loan - worth £1.1m with interest - and concealed 75,000 shares in a tech firm, valued at £66,000.
Becker was previously handed a two-year suspended sentence for tax evasion and attempted tax evasion worth 1.m euro (around £1.4m) in Germany in 2002.
He was found guilty of four offences under the Insolvency Act between June and October 2017.
Additional reporting by PA