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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To feel sorry for Boris Becker?

111 replies

dottiedodah · 29/04/2022 19:31

I dont know why ,but I just felt a bit sorry for him .I know he has behaved badly and squandered money he was supposed to use towards his creditors .But he just seemed so beaten somehow ,from Wimbledon to Prison .Such a fall from grace . YABU He deserves all he gets. Yanbu Feel sorry for him harsh treatment.

OP posts:
drpet49 · 29/04/2022 19:32

YABU- how many chances has he had? He is an arrogant liar and thinks he is above the law. Deserves all he gets

itsmeagainlol · 29/04/2022 19:32

Only briefly read the article but I believe the sums hidden from creditors was enormous. So no, i feel sorry for the people he was cheating on by not paying.

devildeepbluesea · 29/04/2022 19:33

YABU. I was a huge Becker fan but he’s just been a total knob since he was about 30 .

Haus1234 · 29/04/2022 19:34

I think you can feel sorry for him as a person and also think it’s correct that he go to prison. So neither.

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 29/04/2022 19:36

He should go to prison. I feel sorry for him too.

broccolibush · 29/04/2022 19:37

If he’d surrendered properly to bankruptcy proceedings I might feel sorry for him. That would have been something I could understand - rich people squandering all
their money is world’s tiniest violin stuff but I don’t think anyone does it deliberately.

That he didn’t surrender and attempted to hide his assets means any pity I might have had has evaporated. He attempted to steal from his creditors. Awful behaviour.

I used to work in the business recovery world. He would have been absolutely aware of what he was doing and the potential consequences. He thought he was cleverer than the people administering his bankruptcy, which is so hideously arrogant that words fail me.

So YABU.

123ABC456 · 29/04/2022 19:38

He's only sorry he got caught. My sympathy is with his creditors

incognitodorrito · 29/04/2022 19:39

YABU - I worked in a German hotel a few years ago, which he used to stay in - expecting everything gratis - v arrogant.

Sprig1 · 29/04/2022 19:39

He is an arrogant arse who deserves everything he gets.

ChocBloc · 29/04/2022 19:40

No sorry. I've read the article. He deserves his punishment. It doesn't matter if he was once a "hero" no one is above the law.

PierresPotato · 29/04/2022 19:40

I do remember the joy of him winning Wimbledon's as a fresh-faced 17 year old.
So yes I felt rather sad today at how he's ended up.
But it wasn't a one off error he made.

RightOnTheEdge · 29/04/2022 19:41

Well the judge said this about him so no I don't feel sorry for him

Judge Deborah Taylor said it was "notable you have not shown remorse or acceptance of your guilt".
She added: "While I accept the humiliation you have felt as a result of these proceedings, you have shown no humility."

FinnRussell · 29/04/2022 19:44

Nope, he was prosecuted for tax evasion previously. He thinks the rules don't apply to him and he's more important than his creditors. No sympathy from me.

LetitiaLeghorn · 29/04/2022 19:44

I've always liked Boris Becker but I don't feel sorry for him at all. He was convicted of tax evasion in 2002 and learned nothing. He ran up £50m of debts. And then tried to hide his assets for when his bankruptcy was discharged not giving two hoots by which businesses were destroyed by his debts. He is a toad. A greedy, unrepentant thieving toad.
He's lucky to just get 2½ years in my opinion.

Original poster
dottiedodah · 29/04/2022 19:44

No you are correct that he has maybe not shown remorse .Just looking at him when he started out as a fresh faced teenager .Also obv should have paid his creditors of course ,but he didnt want to part with his sporting trophies which I sympathise with .

OP posts:
PierresPotato · 29/04/2022 19:46

I did just say I'd have hidden my Wimbledon trophy too. 😂 I'm not as law abiding as I thought.

JanisMoplin · 29/04/2022 19:47

PierresPotato · 29/04/2022 19:40

I do remember the joy of him winning Wimbledon's as a fresh-faced 17 year old.
So yes I felt rather sad today at how he's ended up.
But it wasn't a one off error he made.

This. I am only a few years younger than him and remember watching his first Wimbledon. I feel some strange mixture of nostalgia, wistfulness and horror at where he has ended up. How the mighty fall...

Thedogscollar · 29/04/2022 19:49

YABVU He has always been an arrogant arse. He should have paid his debts.

edwinbear · 29/04/2022 19:49

His fall from grace is sad, yes, but he has always come across as supremely arrogant to me, so I don't feel much empathy for him at all really.

StoneofDestiny · 29/04/2022 19:52

It's fraud, he broke the law, he had control over this situation but was too arrogant to sort it legally. Just desserts etc

friendlycat · 29/04/2022 19:54

I feel sorry for all the creditors that he left high and dry.
After his tax evasion in Germany in 2002 that he avoided a custodial sentence over, one might have thought he would be more financially prudent.

He’s now got a custodial sentence here for breaking the law. All of this he’s brought on himself. Why do you feel sorry for him as he didn’t have to behave so financially irresponsible and unlawfully it was his choice and decisions to do so?

WaspStingsAreAwful · 29/04/2022 19:54

He sounds familiar.....might be related to another Boris.... lol.

Off with their heads!

LetitiaLeghorn · 29/04/2022 19:56

dottiedodah · 29/04/2022 19:44

No you are correct that he has maybe not shown remorse .Just looking at him when he started out as a fresh faced teenager .Also obv should have paid his creditors of course ,but he didnt want to part with his sporting trophies which I sympathise with .

He has debts of 50m. I doubt his trophies would have covered that. 😂 He should never have run up debts like that in the first place.

AlexaShutUp · 29/04/2022 19:59

YANBU to feel sorry for him but YABU to think that his treatment has been excessively harsh. Sadly, he appears to have shown no remorse and I think he absolutely deserves his punishment. However, that doesn't stop me from feeling sorry for him. It must be bloody awful to know that you are the author of your own downfall, and that you have nobody to blame but yourself.

I think it's possible to feel compassion for a flawed human being while also believing that they should face the consequences of their actions.

Randomness12 · 29/04/2022 20:00

YABU - read the details of the case. He is an idiot who thinks he is above the law. He has had multiple opportunities to rectify this but has continued to think he didn’t have to because he is rich and or famous. It’s illegal = go to prison.