Daniel Gee was buying butty from the store a few minutes later, he was in cuffs

Daniel Gee had no idea as he sat in a store waiting to buy a sandwich that minutes later he would find himself in the back of a police car.

Yesterday, Tuesday June 25, Daniel Gee was found in the New Springs area of ​​Wigan. The former Everton gangster, who turned his own estate into a 24-hour drug-trafficking zone, escaped from Kirklevington Grange Prison in North Yorkshire on May 27.

A man, who asked not to be named, witnessed the moment police descended on the usually quiet council estate. He told how Gee had actually bought a sandwich at the time of his arrest from an off-licence near the Kirkless Hall Inn pub and had even seen him in the area several times in the past week.

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He said: “Yesterday he was buying a sandwich, he was talking, then the next moment the police came out of nowhere. They probably knew it was in the store. He complied with the officers when they told him to get on the ground. handcuffed him and he was smiling and laughing with them as he was led away.”

Speaking about the area in general, he said: “You’ve got a lot of Liverpool people around here. I’ve never had a problem with him when I’ve seen him around.”

The ECHO also understands another man was with Gee at the time of the arrest, who was also seen getting into a police car.

Merseyside Police have not yet confirmed whether anyone else has been arrested in connection with Gee’s escape from prison.

In pictures released by Merseyside Police, Gee can be seen smiling as he is arrested at the shop on Albion Drive in Wigan. Neighbor Angela Whalley, a mother who grew up in the area, told the ECHO the area had “gone downhill”.

The 54-year-old support worker said: “It got worse. We used to leave the doors open, people came in freely, we knew all our neighbors when I was a kid. Everything has changed now.

“There used to be a waiting list to live on this estate, now look at this. There’s drug dealing outside the front door, cars coming and going, guys on bikes. I’ve lived here all my life, it’s a shame.”

Gee was initially sentenced to an indeterminate sentence for the protection of the public in 2010 after being convicted of weapons offenses after plotting to arm himself in revenge against a teenager. Courts heard he plotted to arm himself after threatening to kill 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 going through his stomach and lung before exiting the back. In an October 2009 trial, Gee was found guilty of two counts of making threats to kill and two counts of blackmail.

Jurors were unable to agree on the two more serious charges of conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to possess firearms and ammunition. As the 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”.

Given that Gee was in an open Category D prison before his escape, it was likely that he would soon be released from his indeterminate sentence. However, following his capture, he will be returned to prison and will have to serve additional time before being eligible for parole.

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