Becker could be released from British jail and deported early

The 54-year-old has been approved for a fast-track programme that allows foreign prisoners to be released much earlier, the tabloid wrote on Sunday, reported dpa.

"He has been signed up to a scheme that will ensure he gets home in time for Christmas," the Sun quoted a prison source as saying.

Becker's German lawyer Christian-Oliver Moser would not comment on the newspaper report when contacted.

German Becker - who lived in London - was sentenced to two and a half years in prison at the end of April for concealing assets worth millions from his insolvency administrators.

He has been held for several months in Huntercombe Prison west of London. According to British law, prisoners can be released on parole if they have served at least half of their prison sentence. In Becker's case, that would be 15 months with a date of July 29, 2023.

But the Sun said the new release and deportation programme is intended to help ease the pressure on Britain's overcrowded prisons.

According to the report, any foreign prisoner "who can be released from prison and deported up to 12 months before the earliest release date" is eligible.

A Home Office spokesperson told the newspaper: "Any foreign national who is sentenced to prison for a criminal offence will be eligible for deportation at the earliest possible date."