Wandsworth Prison
“Infested by vermin”: Boris Becker could serve his sentence in this prison
Julian Assange and Oscar Wilde were both imprisoned in Wandsworth Prison
© Jonathan Brady / Picture Alliance
On Friday afternoon, Judge Deborah Taylor sentenced Boris Becker to two years and six months in prison. He is expected to serve his sentence at Wandsworth Prison.
Boris Becker actually lives in an apartment in west London. The German tennis legend could spend the next two and a half years behind bars at Wandsworth Prisons in the southwest of the British capital.
Boris Becker: That’s the prison he could be in
According to information from the broadcaster RTL, Becker is taken directly from the courthouse to detention. Wandsworth Prison is one of the largest in the country and was built in the 19th century. In 2010, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange told the Spanish newspaper “El Pais” about his time there and remembered some gruesome details. “There were crazy pedophiles there who cried out loud all night about their crimes. You could hear their shouts all night,” he said. Writer Oscar Wilde and Kate Moss’ ex-partner and musician Peter Doherty have also been imprisoned here.
Most recently, inmates called the prison “crumbly, overcrowded, and vermin-infested.” In a survey, the majority of inmates stated that they were rarely allowed to go outside in the fresh air. “The prison’s infrastructure was in dire need of refurbishment: cells and corridors were often shabby, some of the showers were terrible, and the outside areas were littered with rubbish,” Chief Inspector Charlie Taylor said recently. There is a big problem with “rats, mice and pigeons”. Incidents of violence have also increased in recent times.
The cells in the prison are 6.5 square meters and the former execution room is now the staff dining room. Boris Becker was declared bankrupt by a London bankruptcy court in June 2017 because he was unable to pay various debts. At the time, Becker’s outstanding debts were estimated at up to 50 million pounds (59 million euros).
Sources used: RTL / “El País” / “Independent”