Former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker is reportedly instructing his fellow prison inmates in a “special type of yoga and meditation”, say reports.
The German tennis legend was in April this year jailed for two and a half years for concealing £2.5m of assets to avoid paying money he owed after his bankruptcy.
Reports quoting the tabloid Bild said the 54-year-old had been training regularly in the prison fitness studio and had given up alcohol, which is banned. The tabloid, which quoted a source close to Becker, said also added that he had lost about 8kg (1st 3lb).
Becker is also working as an assistant alongside the prison coach for fitness and psychology, drawing on his experience as a former world No 1 tennis champion, the Bild reported.
Further, Becker is teaching about 45 fellow inmates in fitness, nutrition and crisis management at the prison, which has a sports complex with a climbing wall, an astroturf pitch and a cardiovascular fitness room.
Becker is also said to be instructing other prisoners in a “special type of yoga and meditation”, the source told the paper. “As a sportsman, he knows only too well the highs and lows of victories and defeats. He is sharing his life experience with his fellow prisoners.”
Becker was transferred from Wandsworth prison to Huntercombe prison near Nuffield, Oxfordshire, in May.
Becker was jailed by the Southwark crown court for five years under the Insolvency Act for hiding assets worth millions of pounds after being made bankrupt in June 2017.
According to a report in The Guardian, the judge, Deborah Taylor, accused him of showing no contrition, telling him during sentencing: “You have not shown remorse, acceptance of your guilt, and have sought to distance yourself from your offending and your bankruptcy. While I accept your humiliation as part of the proceedings, there has been no humility.” He was told he would serve half the sentence.
He has a previous conviction for tax evasion and attempted tax evasion in Germany in 2002.
Huntercombe prison was originally built as an internment camp. The site opened as a prison after the second world war and was a borstal until 1983. In 2000, it became a prison for male juveniles aged 15-18. In November 2010, it became an adult category C training prison and since March 2012, it has held solely category C foreign national prisoners. It holds about 480 adults, the report noted.