French authorities have detained a British drill rapper who spent more than two weeks taunting police on social media after escaping custody twice in the space of five days, with his arrest coming just one day after he posted a video of himself dancing shirtless to a rap celebrating his escape.
Daniel Boakye, 21, who performs under the name Dsavv, was arrested in La Bouëxière, a commune approximately 60 miles north of Nantes, on Monday night. The Metropolitan Police confirmed he faces an imminent return to the United Kingdom, where he is wanted on suspicion of escaping lawful custody. Detectives are continuing to investigate those believed to have assisted him in leaving the country, with reports suggesting he was smuggled out of Britain hidden in a lorry.
Boakye had originally been jailed in July 2023 for a series of knifepoint robberies and was facing deportation to Ghana later this year. His first escape attempt came on 10 February, when he slipped away from his prison escort at West Middlesex University Hospital, only to be recaptured the following day. Five days later, on 15 February, he fled again — this time absconding from Lewisham Hospital in south-east London while receiving medical treatment — and on this occasion remained at large for more than a fortnight.
Rather than keeping a low profile, Boakye used his Instagram account — which has close to one million followers — to document his time on the run in a series of videos set to his own music. In one clip, he rapped: “I just broke out of jail like Modie” — a reference to a character in the Netflix crime drama Top Boy — while an image of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer appeared on screen alongside the lyric “F*** the government fam, there phoneys.” Another line referenced “prison break” and spoke of celebrating with “cannabis, champagne and rolleys.”
During his time evading custody, Boakye also recorded and released a new track entitled The Race, in which he declared himself “the boss of UK” and included the lines “F*** the Met fam, they helped me escape” and “Done it twice, now they think I’m insane… catch me if you can.”
The day before his arrest, he posted a further video of himself dancing to the same material, apparently unconcerned about being located.
Boakye is expected to be returned to the UK imminently, according to the Metropolitan Police. The investigation into those who may have facilitated his escape and cross-Channel movement remains ongoing.
