Shamed tennis legend Boris Becker has told of his time inside two ‘brutal’ jails – but failed to take responsibility for the bankruptcy fraud that put him there.
The three-time Wimbledon winner, convicted of hiding assets worth £2.5million, blamed his advisers and even criticised jurors for being too young to understand his case.
Twice-married Becker, 55, also offered a startling warning to Prince Harry: ‘Don’t forget where you come from, because you may have to go back there. And marriages don’t always last forever, last time I checked.’
The former Grand Slam ace and BBC commentator was jailed for two-and-a-half years last April after being found guilty of four charges under the Insolvency Act.
The first part of his sentence was served at London’s notorious HMP Wandsworth, which Becker described as ‘a s***hole’.
Shamed tennis legend Boris Becker has told of his time inside two ‘brutal’ jails – but failed to take responsibility for the bankruptcy fraud that put him there
Becker offered a startling warning to Prince Harry: ‘Don’t forget where you come from, because you may have to go back there.’
‘It’s a dangerous place. After the first week, I realised that this is survival, and if I spend any time looking back, I’m losing,’ he told the Financial Times.
‘I need all my energy to survive every single day. The moment they come with the keys – you hear it, it’s a noise you never forget.’
Becker taught maths and English to other inmates, allowing him to spend five hours a day out of his cell, which he liked because ‘inside the cell, you die’.
He was later transferred to Huntercombe Prison in Nuffield, Oxfordshire, where he was ’surrounded by murderers, drug dealers, people smugglers’.
The German recalled: ‘At first, you’re scared, because this guy killed two people with his hands, he’s already doing 18 years. Imagine! He becomes your buddy.’
He added: ‘The British justice system is brutal.’ Becker was backed by famous friends while he was inside. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp wanted to visit but was blocked because the prison feared for his safety.
World No.1 tennis player Novak Djokovic gave Becker’s girlfriend Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro free tickets to his matches.
Becker arriving at London’s Southwark Crown Court last year where he was sentenced
Twice-married Becker offered Harry (pictured with Meghan in the couple’s Netflix series) advice, saying ‘And marriages don’t always last forever, last time I checked’
His longtime German rival Michael Stich even wrote him a long letter. Becker was declared bankrupt in 2017 but hid £2.5million of assets, including a £1million house in Germany, to avoid paying his debts.
When he was sentenced at London’s Southwark Crown Court last year, Judge Deborah Taylor said he had shown ‘no remorse [and] no humility’.
In his FT interview, Becker still refused to take responsibility for his crimes, saying he wouldn’t have been dealt with as harshly ’if my name was Peter Smith and I didn’t win Wimbledon at 17’.
He said: ‘It was naivety, it was bad advice. But it wasn’t bad intention . Should I have better advisers? Yes.
‘I’m going to start listening to my common sense, instead of having these tens of advisers and lawyers.
‘We all struggle with our taxes. And the more money you have, the more complicated it gets.
Boris Becker pictured with Lilly Kerssenberg at their wedding in St Moritz, Switzerland, in 2009
Becker with girlfriend Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro, to whom world No.1 tennis player Novak Djokovic gave free match tickets
The first part of his sentence was served at London’s notorious HMP Wandsworth (pictured), which Becker described as ‘a s***hole’
‘The jurors… half of them were under 30, I don’t think they truly understood what this case was really about.’
Becker, whose net worth was said to have been £127million at the height of his success, added that money ‘goes quick’ when you have a divorce.
He paid £11million to his first wife Barbara Feltus when they separated in 2002 and is embroiled in divorce negotiations with his second wife Lilly.
He was released from prison in December after serving just seven months and 17 days and deported to Germany, where he now lives in Munich.
