London, Dec 16 (IANS): Tennis great Boris Becker was on Thursday released from prison after serving eight months of his sentence for hiding 2.5m pounds worth of assets and loans to avoid paying debts.

The 55-year-old German was jailed for two and a half years in April after being found guilty of four charges under the Insolvency Act. He was released from prison on Thursday morning and has flown to Germany.

According to a BBC report, the former Wimbledon champion has been deported from the United Kingdom. His Berlin-based lawyer, Christian-Oliver Moser, said in a statement Becker "was released from custody in England and has left for Germany today".

The report further said that Becker flew from Biggin Hill in a private jet chartered by a friend, adding that the former tennis star arrived in Munich on Thursday afternoon.

"Any foreign national who is convicted of a crime and given a prison sentence is considered for deportation at the earliest opportunity," a Home Office spokesperson told BBC Sport.

Becker qualifies for automatic deportation as a foreign national who does not have British citizenship and received a custodial sentence of more than 12 months.

The German has lived in the UK since 2012, having retired from playing in 1999. He won six Grand Slam singles titles, including three at Wimbledon, during his 15-year career. He was declared bankrupt in June 2017 over an unpaid loan of more than 3m pounds on his estate in Mallorca, Spain.

Becker went on trial earlier this year having been accused of hiding millions of pounds worth of assets to avoid paying his debts. He was ultimately found guilty of four charges relating to his bankruptcy but was acquitted of a further 20.