Boris Becker could face deportation from UK, Home Office confirms

Boris Becker will be considered for deportation, the Home Office has confirmed, as experts said the potential battle could set a legal precedent and Becker may have to represent himself in court if he wants to remain in the UK.

Last week, the former tennis star was jailed for two years and six months for hiding millions of pounds’ worth of assets after being made bankrupt in June 2017. Becker, sentenced under the Insolvency Act, will serve half the full prison term.

A Home Office spokesperson said that while it did not routinely comment on individual cases, “any foreign national who is convicted of a crime and given a prison sentence is considered for deportation at the earliest opportunity”.

Such a development is likely to make case history because the Home Office may claim that Becker’s criminal offences continued after the Brexit withdrawal agreement was implemented on 31 December 2020, which made immigration law for EU citizens more stringent.

This ambiguity means Becker, who is not thought to have taken British citizenship, could either be considered for deportation under the previous, more relaxed version of the UK Borders Act 2007, or the updated version, which was implemented on 31 December 2020.

Fighting against it could cost up to £30,000, experts said, meaning Becker may have to represent himself in court as a litigant in person.

“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,” said Colin Yeo, an immigration barrister and author of Welcome to Britain: Fixing Our Broken Immigration System. “He could attempt to resist deportation on human rights grounds but we have seen young black men who have lived