Daniel Gee a 'big Viking stomper' who would 'just wreck you'

True crime podcaster Billy Moore described north Liverpool gangster Daniel Gee as a "force to be reckoned with" as the manhunt for him enters a second week.

Mr Moore, a former boxer who spent decades involved in crime and has battled drug addiction repeatedly throughout his adult life, added people should not underestimate Gee. Along with his brother Darren, Gee once flooded Everton's Grizedale estate with dangerous drugs.

He was jailed indefinitely for the public's protection in 2010 after a secret probe caught him conspiring to buy guns and threatening to kill a teenager who had shot him during a New Year's Day confrontation two years before. The ECHO exclusively revealed last Monday, May 27 that Gee had absconded from Kirklevington Grange - a category D open prison in the north east.

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Cleveland Police officers are leading the manhunt for Gee, but despite the story making national headlines, no developments in the search for him have been confirmed. Speaking on an episode of The All or Nothing Podcast with Billy Moore, the former boxer said he first met Gee more than 20 years ago.

Mr Moore said: "I remember Danny when he was 20 years old. He was a strong kid back then. He would come in off the streets and would be repping 80kg military press above his head, no problem." He added: "I wouldn't underestimate him. He doesn't strike me as someone with a big ego.

"He's dangerous but he's obviously been recategorised as a low danger to get to Kirklevington. He's on the right path, aiming for something. It's easy to be online shouting the odds but if he was in front of you he would be a force to be reckoned with. He was a big Viking stomper who would just wreck you. I would be very, very wary of him. He's been away for a long time."

Gee's status was confirmed to the ECHO by the Ministry of Justice. A spokesperson for the Prison Service said: "All prisoners in Category D prisons are robustly risk-assessed and absconds are rare. Offenders who break the rules are punished and face extra time behind bars and we are working with the police to recapture this prisoner."

Cleveland Police said Gee was last seen wearing a black jumper, black Adidas bottoms with a white stripe down each leg and black trainers. He was carrying a yellow JD Sports bag. He is described as "a white male, of large build, around 6ft tall and bald".

An abscond is an escape that does not involve overcoming a physical security restraint such as that provided by a wall or fence, locks, bolts or bars, a secure vehicle, handcuffs or the direct supervision of staff. According to the Prison and Probation Service, Category D prisons have minimal security and allow eligible prisoners to spend most of their day away from the prison on licence to carry out work, education or for other resettlement purposes.

Gee was jailed after he plotted to arm himself after making death threats to 16-year-old gunman Jamie Starkey. Gee was seriously injured after being shot by Starkey, which happened outside an Anfield pub in the early hours, with one of the bullets piercing his stomach and lung before going out his back.

He was taken to hospital after the shooting but refused treatment, but was described to be in severe amounts of pain and trauma after Starkey's "murderous and unprovoked" attack. In a trial in October 2009, Gee was found guilty of two counts of threats to kill and another two of blackmail.

Jurors were unable to agree on the two more serious charges of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to possess firearms and ammunition. As his second trial was about to start, Gee, formerly of Maryport Close, Everton, admitted the second charge. Prosecutor Ian Unsworth KC said Gee’s desire for revenge “knew no bounds”.

Gee was handed an indefinite prison sentence and was ordered to serve a minimum of four years behind bars before his case would be considered by the parole board. The sentence ran at the same time as the seven-and-a-half year sentence he was serving for drugs offences.

Gee's barrister argued during his trial that his client was "frankly terrified" at the thought of an indeterminate sentence and he had only conspired to arm himself because he feared another confrontation with the Starkey family. He claimed Gee had been targeted because of his underworld family name and revealed his greatest fear was receiving an indefinite sentence because he believed he would never be released.

But the then Recorder of Liverpool, Judge Henry Globe KC, said: "I am in no doubt that the public must be protected from you in the future. I really do not know when it will be safe to release you."

Starkey was shot six times by a masked gunman outside his house on December 2 2012. Despite five arrests and the murder weapon being recovered, no one has been convicted of his death.

Mr Moore previously told the ECHO how he spent nearly two decades in prison for offences including dangerous driving, burglary and theft, much of which was done to fund his drug addiction. He tried to make a new life for himself in Thailand but he fell back into addiction and was jailed in the notorious Klong Prem prison in Bangkok.

He later wrote a book about is experiences which was later made into a film called A Prayer Before Dawn starring Peaky Blinders actor Joe Cole. Mr Moore, who was last sent to prison in 2018 for burglary, now speaks about true crime on his podcast and helps people with addiction.

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