Former prison officer on how long Daniel Gee faces in jail after being caught on run

A former prison officer believes Daniel Gee can turn his life around but will face additional prison time now he has been caught.

Neil 'Sam' Samworth - a former guard at Strangeways prison who counts Gee's brother Darren among his former inmates - said the man's status as a prisoner with an intermediate sentence will count against him when he is eventually brought to justice. Gee, who absconded from category D open prison Kirklevington Grange on May 27, is back in custody after being arrested in the New Springs area, near Aspull, a town in Greater Manchester yesterday, June 25.

The now 44-year-old was jailed indefinitely in 2010 for the public's protection following his conviction for gun offences.

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With a public protection (IPP) sentence - a prison term introduced in 2005 for serious crimes but abolished in 2012 after public pressure - he had 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.

Despite the abolishment of the sentence, the change was not made retrospective meaning all existing IPP prisoners, including Gee, had to abide by the rules of the sentence given to them. Speaking on his podcast Real Porridge with Sam Samworth, the former prison officer said Gee is "infamous in the prison estate" with many questioning why the former gang leader was in an open prison.

However, he added that a category D open prison could be dangerous for someone like Gee. He said: "One, you are tempted to get off, two, you can get involved in criminal activity. You can in prison, but it is more open, more drugs, phones and the like. If you have a reputation you might get challenged. There are no screws about. A lot of people walk around the day, you are unsupervised...it's very, very different."

Mr Samworth added: "Here is the danger for someone like Danny Gee who is on the run...it used to be if you got off from a category D with 30 days on your sentence you would be sentenced for an extra 30 days on your return. Danny Gee is an IPP prisoner. We do not know why he has got off, maybe it was the temptation, maybe something happened.

"Danny, if he got out, could turn his life around...Danny is a parole prisoner. So dependent on what happens is dependent on his future. It's very difficult to get on your toes and stay at large. Lots of people, criminals I knew, went to Spain and the like, living the life. The authorities catch up with you. And you can incriminate other people.

"...If he hands himself in or gets caught by authorities he could be facing another two years before he is given parole. That is the IPP sentence. Things are changing right now. Cat D is giving people chances and opportunities but is also a very risky business for individuals."

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'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.

Speaking on a recent episode of the Criminal Connection Podcast, Darren, who has become an anti-knife campaigner since his release from a lengthy prison term for organising a murder during a tit-for-tat street war, said: "I am hoping it's a planned abscond. If it's an emotional abscond, it's going to go wrong. If it's planned then hopefully he is out the country."

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