Yahoo News Daniel Gee manhunt two weeks on as grainy CCTV image remains only clue as to where gangster fled
Today marks two weeks since former gang leader Daniel Gee absconded from prison - with one grainy CCTV image the only clue as to where he might be.
Gee, who notoriously turned Everton's Grizedale estate into a round-the-clock drug trading zone with his brother Darren, absconded from Kirklevington Grange prison on Monday, May 27. The now 44-year-old, who was jailed indefinitely in 2010 for gun offences, was last seen on CCTV walking towards James Cook train station before boarding a service onto Middlesbrough.
Cleveland Police, who are leading the manhunt, have been unable to make further developments. His disappearance, which was exclusively revealed by the ECHO the following day, has since made national headlines. But despite the added attention and scrutiny, Gee's whereabouts remain a mystery.
READ MORE: The brutal gang war that led to one of Merseyside's darkest days
Here is everything we know about Gee's disappearance from prison -
The disappearance
Cleveland Police confirmed Gee absconded from Kirklevington Grange Prison on Monday, May 27. 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 JD Sports bag. He is described as "a white male, of large build, around 6ft tall and bald".
Gee's status was confirmed to the ECHO by the Ministry of Justice and has since been extensively reported by the national media. 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."
Gee walks out the front gate
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.
Absconds are monitored to analyse the frequency across the open estate and identify any trends nationally also taking into consideration, the management of risk to the public. It is only possible to abscond from open prison conditions.
If an offender fails to follow the necessary guidelines in an open prison, they are not permitted to return to an open prison for at least two years.
The first - and only - clue
CCTV of Gee walking towards James Cook Train Station in Middlesbrough was released over a week on from his disappearance. It was timed and dated at 11.50am on Tuesday, May 28 - the day after he absconded. In the footage, he can be seen wearing a pale blue t-shirt, black Adidas tracksuit bottoms with white stripes down both legs and a beige hat. He was carrying a JD bag.
A Cleveland Police spokesperson said: "It is likely to have been carrying a black hoodie inside of the bag which he may have been wearing in earlier sightings. When he boarded the train to Middlesbrough, he was wearing a blue hooded raincoat."
The revenge plot that led to his downfall
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.
A 'force to be reckoned with'
The ECHO has looked back at various descriptions of Gee, including comments recently made by true-crime podcaster Billy Moore and his own brother Darren. Speaking on an episode of The All or Nothing Podcast with Billy Moore, the former boxer 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."
A 'very volatile individual'
Speaking on an episode of Anything Goes with James English four years ago, his brother Darren, who has since become an anti-knife campaigner and true-crime podcaster, recalled a memory from when the pair were in Dyson Hall - a former facility that housed youngsters who had been involved in street crime as a juvenile.
Darren said: "We're in Dyson Hall, we end up smashing the cell. We're getting twisted up by these men. They can't deal with us so we get separated. They burst the room, six or seven of them, he's scraping but they manhandle him. They're battering him. He's 12 years old, they've took him away and put him in the secure unit.
"...Next time we saw each other was in HMP Altcourse. Danny went into the secure system, whilst he was there they couldn't control him, so they used their methods to manipulate and condition him to the way they wanted him to think. He rebelled. The only thing they could do was put him in the gym.
"Three times a week Danny was getting took to a gymnasium to calm him down. All that did was make him big, strong and more disciplined. The next time we saw him he had red hair down here, which is why we called him the Hulk. The next time I've seen him is in Altcourse, someone has stepped on one of our toes, we put him in the hospital and smashed the unit down.
"We were separated in the prison system from that day on. I've never been in a prison with Danny. What we did as young offenders we could never be in the same prison system because of how volatile we were."
Where has he gone?
After Gee absconded, Cleveland Police said he "is believed to have links to the North Yorkshire area, including Whitby, Carlisle, St Helens and Merseyside". However, there will undoubtedly be fears Gee's proximity to both Newcastle and the Scottish border could also see him either flee further north or to Europe.
A spokesperson for Cleveland Police said: "Anyone who may have seen Daniel Gee or may know his current whereabouts is asked to call Cleveland Police on 101, quoting reference number 098852."
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