Yahoo News Gangland hardman breaks silence on where Daniel Gee might be hiding after Teesside prison escape
Former gang boss Darren Gee has broken his silence since his brother Daniel fled from jail over a fortnight ago.
The now 45-year-old, who was previously the ringleader of Everton's Grizedale estate, who along with his younger brother transformed the area into a hub for drug dealing, had not commented on Daniel's escape from Teesside's Kirklevington Grange prison.
However, during an appearance on the Criminal Connection Podcast, Darren, who has turned his life around to become an anti-knife crime advocate and true-crime commentator since leaving prison, addressed the situation.
Speaking to podcast host Terry Stone, known for his past as a rave promoter and his acting work in the Rise of the Footsoldier series, Darren said: "[Daniel] has absconded in the last few days. 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."
In 2010, Daniel, now 44, received an indeterminate sentence for firearms offences following his plan to retaliate against a young man after being shot outside a pub. On Tuesday, May 28, Daniel vanished from the Category D men's prison, located in Yarm, the night before.
Cleveland Police are spearheading the search for him, but despite widespread media coverage, the only clue to his location is a blurry CCTV snapshot. He was last spotted heading toward James Cook train station before getting on a train towards Middlesbrough.
His former ties to the criminal underworld and his proximity to both Scotland and Newcastle cause investigators to suspect he may have left the country, the Echo reports. Gee was seen wearing a light blue t-shirt, black Adidas jogging bottoms with white stripes down the legs and a beige hat when he was last seen. He also had a JD bag thought to contain a black hoodie.
Gee ended up behind bars after hatching a plan to arm himself following issuing death threats to 16-year-old gunman Jamie Starkey. In an October 2009 trial, Gee was convicted of two counts of making threats to kill and another two of blackmail. The jury couldn't reach a consensus on the more serious charges of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to possess firearms and ammunition.
On the eve of his second trial, Gee, formerly of Maryport Close, Everton, confessed to the second charge. Prosecutor Ian Unsworth KC stated Gee's thirst for revenge "knew no bounds".
He received an indefinite prison term and was told he must serve at least four years before being eligible for parole board review. This sentence coincided with a seven-and-a-half-year term for drug-related crimes.
His defence counsel expressed that he was "frankly terrified" of the indeterminate sentence, but Judge Henry Globe KC, then Recorder of Liverpool, insisted: "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."
Darren, who served nearly two decades for his involvement in a murder linked to gang rivalry, spoke on James English's Anything Goes podcast about his brother, describing him as "very volatile individual". He recounted an incident from their youth in Dyson Hall, where after causing havoc in their cell, they were subdued by staff.
Darren remembered: "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."
After Daniel absconded, Cleveland Police said he "is believed to have links to the North Yorkshire area, including Whitby, Carlisle, St Helens and Merseyside". A spokesperson added: "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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