Boris Becker showed ‘no humility’ as judge slams tennis star during sentencing

Boris Becker reportedly showed “no humility” for his crimes before he was handed a two-and-a-half year jail sentence at Southwark Crown Court on Friday afternoon. The tennis hero was jailed after being found guilty of several offences under the Insolvency Act relating to his bankruptcy in 2017.

According to Channel 4 News, Becker’s lawyer Jonathan Laidlaw QC argued he should be spared jail because his life and career had been ruined by the public humiliation of the criminal prosecution. The judge accepted this but said the three-time Wimbledon champion had shown no humility.

Becker was declared bankrupt due to an unpaid loan of more than £3million on his estate in Spain. And he was hauled before the courts after being accused of hiding millions of pounds worth of assets in an attempt to avoid paying his debts.

The 54-year-old appeared in court for sentencing dressed in his Wimbledon tie after being found guilty of four charges by a jury on April 8. The charges included removal of property, two counts of failing to disclose estate and concealing debt.

Becker won his first Grand Slam trophy in 1985 when he lifted the Wimbledon trophy. And he tasted victory at SW19 once again a year later. He on to win Wimbledon for a third time in 1989, before becoming US Open champion later that year. And he later claimed title success at the Australian Open in 1991 and 1996.

But the German’s fall from grace has been meteoritic and he is now set to spend at least 15 months behind bars, before being considered for parole next July.

The superstar was met by a media frenzy upon his arrival at court on Friday as he was supported by his partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro. And the judge Deborah Taylor ignored his lawyer’s calls to hand down a suspended sentence.

“Boris Becker has literally nothing, and there’s nothing, to show for what was the most glittering of sporting careers, that is terms as nothing short of a tragedy,” said Mr Laidlaw. “His fall is not simply a fall from grace and amounts to the most public of humiliations of this man.

“The degree of suffering – and it will continue – is punishment no other bankrupt in this country is likely ever to experience. The attention of the press and the deeply unattractive scenes outside this court, particularly this morning, stand as testament to that. This process his destroyed his career entirely, and removed any future prospect of him earning an income. His reputation – an essential part of the brand which gives him work – is in tatters.”