Tennis icon Boris Becker will spend a portion of his time locked away at Wandsworth Prison. The German was sentenced to two-and-a-half years behind bars after being found guilty of four charges under the Insolvency Act earlier this month, half of which he will spend incarcerated.
The 170-year-old Victorian penitentiary is a world away from the luxurious life the 54-year-old is used to living. With a capacity of over 1,300 inmates and known for endemic violence, rampant drug abuse and infestation of rats, Becker will serve time in one of the UK's worst jails.
A report by Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor this year revealed 'desperately bored' inmates spend more than 22 hours a day in their derelict cells. Throughout 2020/21 there was almost one attack every day among inmates, with prison staff using force 1,295 times during the same period, or nearly four times a day.
According to prison sources as quoted by The Mail, the three-time Wimbledon champion will spend up to a fortnight in Wandsworth, a Category B jail, before moving to a lower security Category C jail. The adverse prison conditions were laid bare by ex-prisoner Chris Atkins, who was sentenced to five years in 2016 for a tax scam.
“The first thing that hits me is the noise,” he wrote in his book. “Yelling, banging, screaming, grunting, barking, threatening, ranting, laughing, whining, arguing, fighting, howling, crying. It's as if someone has downloaded every single sound effect and is blaring them all out at once.
"The reception wing looks like it last had a makeover in 1895 when Oscar Wilde was here... jailed for homosexuality. It's basically Porridge meets One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, and is full of the most terrifying individuals I have ever seen.”
Prison sources also confirmed that Becker has been given his own cell, but he is likely to be moved to a shared one this week, a prison source said. It will be 6ft by 12ft with a concrete floor and a toilet with no seat or privacy curtain. Wandsworth prison is just two miles from Wimbledon, where Becker won the first of his three titles as a 17-year-old in 1985.
The former world number one was convicted of hiding a number of assets, including nearly £700,000, 75,000 shares in a tech firm and some of his most prized tennis titles - including two Wimbledon trophies. Becker was legally obliged to declare all of his assets after being declared bankrupt five years ago.
Following the 2017 bankruptcy the six-time Grand Slam winner handed his wedding ring over, but concealed ownership of a £1.3million home in his native Germany, a £692,000 loan he received from a Liechtenstein bank as well as his shares in an artificial intelligence firm. Prosecuting, Rebecca Chalkley told jurors that Becker had given bankruptcy officials 'the runaround'. She added: "The obligations and duties were with him." Becker will spend at least 15 months behind bars.
