the self styled ‘captain’ of a replica german u boat could face prison after he admitted swindling the taxman out of more than £1million captain birdseye lookalike richard williams, 56, spent £50,000 kitting out the vessel, which he named u 8047, with naval artefacts, a periscope and dummy torpedoes his vessel was moored as a floating visitor attraction at clarence dock in leeds, west yorkshire, when it was raided by customs officers captain birdseye? richard williams faces jail after admitting avoiding paying more than £1million in taxman  his replica german u boat was moored at clarence dock in leeds, when it was raided by customs officers  now, the self confessed maritime history enthusiast   who has toured the waterways of northern ireland and northern britain in his boat   is facing prison after admitting to avoiding more than £1million in taxes an investigation by hm revenue and customs dating back to 2012 found williams and his former partner laurel howarth had set up a number of companies in lancashire they ostensibly sold disability equipment to care homes and the nhs, but evidence gathered by investigators showed minimal genuine sales actually took place despite this, the pair filed false tax returns and invoices for more than £1million the self confessed maritime history enthusiast has admitted spending £50,000 kitting out the vessel  the 56 year old spent the money on naval artefacts, a periscope and dummy torpedoes for the vessel  the 'captain' has toured the waterways of northern ireland and northern britain self made barge, named u 8047  both williams, of blackpool, lancashire, and howarth, 28, formerly of the same address, hijacked the identities of friends and associates in an attempt to hide the fraud williams, also known as stephen howarth, was charged under the naval title and a series of other aliases he is claimed to have used   after the raid on his self made barge in january 2012 in may 2011, williams spoke to the mail while touring around the liverpool waterways dressed in full german submarine commander regalia he told reporters he was a former mobility scooter salesman and had spent more than £50,000 building the u boat he also revealed that the boat had been subject to attack from passers by who thought that he was a nazi williams (right) and his former partner laurel howarth (left) admitted several charges of fraud after a hmrc revealed minimal genuine sales took place at companies the pair ran despite this, the filed false tax returns and invoices for more than £1million  sandra smith, assistant director of criminal investigation at hmrc, said: ‘their attempts to extort money from the public purse were brazen and the pair went to great lengths to try and cover their tracks’ the pair appeared at manchester crown court yesterday having admitted to several charges of fraud williams pleaded guilty to three counts of cheating the public revenue and one of having an article used for fraud howarth has pleaded guilty to three counts of furnishing false returns they spoke only to confirm their names before the case was adjourned until april in order for reports to be prepared
richard williams 56 50,000 u 8047 customs clarence dock leeds williams lancashire
richard williams, 56, spent £50,000 kitting out the vessel he named u 8047 . was raided by customs officers while moored at clarence dock in leeds . 'captain' williams and his former partner set up companies in lancashire . claimed to sell disability equipment but hmrc investigation found minimal genuine sales took place 