Tennis great Boris Becker was sentenced to 2-½ years in prison on Friday for illicitly transferring large amounts of money and hiding assets after he was declared bankrupt.
The three-time Wimbledon champion was convicted earlier this month on four charges under the Insolvency Act and had faced a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.
Judge Deborah Taylor announced the sentence after hearing arguments from both the prosecutor and Becker’s attorney. She told the former top-ranked player that he’s shown no remorse.
“While I accept your humiliation as part of the proceedings, there has been no humility,” Taylor said.
Becker will have to serve at least 15 months before being eligible for release.
The 54-year-old German was found to have transferred hundreds of thousands of pounds after his June 2017 bankruptcy from his business account to other accounts, including those of his ex-wife Barbara and estranged wife Sharlely “Lilly” Becker.
Becker was also convicted of failing to declare a property in Germany and hiding an 825,000 euro (about $1.12 million) bank loan and shares in a tech firm.
The jury at Southwark Crown Court in London acquitted him on 20 other counts, including charges that he failed to hand over his many awards, including two Wimbledon trophies and an Olympic gold medal.
Denied all charges
Becker, wearing a striped tie in Wimbledon’s purple and green colours, walked into the courthouse hand in hand with girlfriend Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro.
The six-time Grand Slam champion has denied all the charges, saying he had cooperated with trustees tasked with securing his assets — even offering up his wedding ring — and had acted on expert advice.
At Friday’s sentencing hearing, prosecutor Rebecca Chalkley said Becker had acted “deliberately and dishonestly” and that he was “still seeking to blame others.”
Defence attorney Jonathan Laidlaw argued for leniency, saying his client hadn’t spent money on a “lavish lifestyle” but rather on child support, rent and legal and business expenses. Becker, he told the court, has experienced “public humiliation” and has no future earnings potential.
The judge said Becker’s two-year suspended sentence for tax evasion and attempted tax evasion in Germany in 2002 was “a significant aggravating factor” in her decision Friday. She said he “did not heed the warning” and opportunity of that suspended sentence.
Becker’s bankruptcy stemmed from a 4.6 million euro (about $6.2 million) loan from a private bank in 2013, as well as about $1.6 million US borrowed from a British businessman the year after, according to testimony at the trial.
During the trial Becker, said his $50 million US career earnings had been swallowed up by payments for an “expensive divorce” and debts when he lost large chunks of his income after retirement.
Becker rose to stardom in 1985 at the age of 17 when he became the first unseeded player to win the Wimbledon singles title and later rose to the No. 1 ranking. He has lived in Britain since 2012.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
BRUSSELS – Canadian shot putter Sarah Mitton rebounded from a disappointing performance at the Paris Olympics by capturing Diamond League gold on Friday.
Mitton, of Brooklyn, N.S., won the competition, the final Diamond League event of the season, with a heave of 20.25 metres on her third throw.
Chase Jackson of the U.S. placed second with a throw of 19.90, while German’s Yemisi Ogunleye, the Olympic gold medallist, claimed bronze with a toss of 19.72.
Mitton, the runner-up of last year’s world championship, failed to qualify for the top eight in Paris.
Edmonton runner Marco Arop, who won silver for Canada in the men’s 800 metres at the Paris Games, was scheduled to race in the 800 on Saturday.
Olympic bronze-medallist Alysha Newman, of London, Ont., also competes Saturday in the women’s pole vault.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
