NOTORIOUS gangster Daniel Gee has been caught after he absconded from prison, police have confirmed.
Gee, 44, was detained yesterday in Wigan by officers from Merseyside Police.
Gee absconded from Kirklevington Prison in Stockton-on-Tees on May 27 and extensive efforts had been ongoing to locate him since.
He is currently in police custody and will be returned to prison.
Earlier this month, Gee had been spotted boarding a train with a mystery woman shortly after fleeing jail.
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During their hut for Gee, cops had revealed the last known image of the man known as the "big Viking stomper”.
True crime podcaster Billy Moore branded Gee a “force to be reckoned with”.
Mr Moore, who has faced his own battles with crime and drug addiction, warned people not to underestimate Gee, who along with his brother Darren, became notorious for flooding Liverpool’s Grizedale estate with drugs.
Gee was handed a rare indefinite sentence for public protection in 2010, a sentence that was abolished two years later, after he made death threats to a teenager who had shot him two years earlier during a New Year’s Eve clash.
Gee was reported missing on May 27 after he disappeared from Kirklevington Grange, a category D open prison in a rural area of North Yorkshire close to the Teeside border.
Mr Moore, shared details of his first encounter with Gee around 20 years ago, on his podcast The All or Nothing.
He 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.
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He was a big Viking stomper who would just wreck you. I would be very, very wary of him
Podcaster Billy Moore
“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 has confirmed Gee’s status, with a Prison Service spokesperson saying: "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."
According to the cops, 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.
An abscond is viewed 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 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.
Having been seriously wounded by 16-year-old gunman Jamie Starkey outside an Anfield pub, a man named Gee was sentenced to a minimum of four years in prison for planning to arm himself after making death threats towards Starkey.
A bullet pierced his stomach and lung before exiting his back but he refused medical treatment following the shooting, which the court deemed a "murderous and unprovoked" attack.
In October 2009, during his first trial, he was found guilty of two cases each of threats to kill and blackmail.
But the jury were unable to reach a consensus on the two more serious accusations of conspiracy to murder and possession of firearms and ammunition.
But Gee conceded to the latter charge as his second trial was about to begin.
Prosecutor Ian Unsworth KC made it clear that Gee's thirst for vengeance "knew no bounds".
Gee's sentence includes an indefinite prison term, with a minimum requirement of serving four years before consideration by the parole board.
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
The then Recorder of Liverpool, Judge Henry Globe KC
This sentence is concurrent with a seven-and-a-half year term he was already serving for drug-related offences.
Gee's barrister claimed at the trial that his client was "frankly terrified" of an indeterminate sentence and had only armed himself due to a fear of another clash with the Starkey family, saying there was a target on Gee’s back due to the notorious family name.
However, 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."
The case of Starkey, who was gunned down outside his home on December 2, 2012, has not been solved even though there have been five arrests and the recovery of the murder weapon.
In the past Mr Moore has spent almost two decades behind bars for a number of crimes, mainly to support his drug habit.
He attempted a fresh start in Thailand but he relapsed into addiction and he spent 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 star Joe Cole.
Mr Moore now dedicates his time to discussing true crime on his podcast and helping those struggling with addiction.
