Yahoo News 'Don't underestimate Daniel Gee': Warning after notorious gangster's Teesside prison escape
A manhunt continues for a notorious Liverpool gangster who has been dubbed a "force to be reckoned with".
Daniel Gee escaped from a Teesside prison on Monday, May 27. Cleveland Police, who have taken the lead in the search for infamous crook, have released CCTV footage of the 44-year-old walking towards James Cook Train Station from the direction of James Cook University Hospital car park at 11.50am on Tuesday 28th May. It is believed that he boarded a train to Middlesbrough.
Gee, who was a key figure in an organised crime group that transformed the Grizedale estate in Liverpool into a round-the-clock drug trading zone, was housed in Kirklevington Grange Category D open prison at the time of his escape. The manhunt has now entered its 10th day.
True crime podcaster Billy Moore has warned not to underestimate the infamous figure of Gee, who along with his brother Darren, was notorious for flooding Everton's Grizedale estate with drugs. Danny Gee received a rare indefinite sentence for public protection in 2010 - a sentence that was then abolished two years later - after making death threats to a teenager who had shot him two years earlier in a New Year's Eve clash.
The search operation has drawn nationwide attention but remains without any definite breakthroughs. Now, on The All or Nothing Podcast Billy Moore has shared his first encounter with Gee some 20 years ago, reports the Liverpool Echo.
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. I wouldn't underestimate him. He doesn't strike me as someone with a big ego.
"He's dangerous but he's obviously been re-categorised 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."
The Ministry of Justice confirmed Gee's status to the ECHO, with a Prison Service spokesperson stating: "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."
In the last footage of Gee, 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 white JD bag. “It is likely to have been carrying a black hoodie inside of the bag which he may have been wearing in earlier sightings,” a force spokesperson said. “When he boarded the train to Middlesbrough, he was wearing a blue hooded raincoat.”
Cleveland Police previously described Gee as white male, large build, around 6ft tall and bald. “He was last seen wearing a black jumper, black Adidas bottoms with a white stripe down each leg and black trainers,” the description continued. “He was carrying a yellow JD Sports bag. He is believed to have links to the North Yorkshire area including Whitby , Carlisle, St Helens and Merseyside.”
An abscond is defined as an escape that does not involve overcoming physical security restraints such as walls, fences, locks, bolts, bars, secure vehicles, handcuffs, or direct staff supervision. Category D prisons, as explained by the Prison and Probation Service, offer minimal security and permit eligible prisoners to spend most of their day outside the prison on licence for work, education, or other resettlement activities.
Gee's sentence includes an indefinite prison term, with a minimum requirement of serving four years before consideration by the parole board. It should be noted that this sentence is concurrent with a seven-and-a-half year term he was already serving for drug-related offences.
Gee's barrister contended at the trial that his client was "frankly terrified" of an indeterminate sentence, arming himself only due to fear of another clash with the Starkey family, citing a target on Gee's back because of his notorious family name and his dread of indefinite incarceration, convinced he'd never be set free.
However, the then Recorder of Liverpool, Judge Henry Globe KC, delivered a stark judgement: "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."
Mr Moore has shared with the ECHO his past of nearly two decades behind bars for various crimes, his attempt at a fresh start in Thailand thwarted by a relapse into addiction leading to time in Bangkok's Klong Prem prison. His experiences formed the basis of a book and subsequent film adaptation, "A Prayer Before Dawn", featuring Peaky Blinders' Joe Cole.
Mr Moore, last imprisoned in 2018 for burglary, now dedicates his time to discussing true crime on his podcast and aiding those struggling with addiction.
Anyone who sees him is asked to call Cleveland Police on 101, quoting reference number 098852. Alternatively, you can call the charity Crimestoppers anonymously online at https://orlo.uk/BMjNL or by calling 0800 555 111.
