Dominic Noonan, the famous face of English organised crime, was seemingly directly managing the riots on the streets of Manchester.
Tens of youths from working-class areas, but also the daughter of a millionaire, a young estate agent, a Baptist preacher, a primary school teacher, a social worker, a future ballerina, children from ten to twelve years old… On each day of rioting, almost a week ago, England was surprised to discover who the people were behind the scarves. Equally surprised was London newspaper The Telegraph, which noticed a well-known person among the looters. In a video broadcast on YouTube, and replayed on the paper’s website, we can clearly see Dominic Noonan – leader of the top gang in Manchester – in amongst the rioters.
Built like a scrum half, bald and wearing small glasses, Noonan is probably England’s best known figure of organised crime. At forty-five years old, and having spent twenty-two of those years in prison, he has been put away over forty times for crimes ranging from armed mugging, to fraud, to tax evasion. Found guilty of murder several times, he has always been acquitted following the disappearance of the witnesses… In 2006, the Mancunian became known to the public after being followed for three years by the famous British reporter Donal McIntyre. He made a striking documentary about Noonan – ‘A Very British Gangster’ – a portrayal of this atypical, overtly homosexual gangster, renowned for his social work and greatly feared for use of extreme violence.
Was Dominic Noonan controlling the Manchester riots?
In the video shot on the first day of the Manchester riots, we can see the gangster in his usual dark-coloured suit and white shirt, speaking to a young man holding flat screen television. Noonan, whose teams generally consist of young men, seemed at ease in the middle of the chaos, to the extent that he even appeared to be giving advice. Witness statements quoted in The Telegraph confirm the sighting of him during the riots on King Street, the wealthiest street in Manchester. When he wasn’t on his mobile, he was talking to looters. He was accompanied by two suited teenagers who were spending their time sending text messages. Noonan was arrested on Thursday. Peter Fahy, head of the Greater Manchester Police, said he thought the looting was organised and planned. According to the police, had anarchy reigned many rioters would have specifically targeted certain shops, and made sure to steal the most expensive items first. As it was, the Swarovski and Links window displays were the first to be targeted, each of which were systematically smashed to obtain bracelets and necklaces of gold, silver and diamonds.
Duggan, whose death triggered the riots, was like a brother to Noonan
Using the chaos to fill one’s pockets. This comes as no surprise when you’re talking about a criminal of Noonan’s calibre. However, more surprising in hindsight are the links between Noonan, his brother Dessie and Mark Duggan, whose death sparked the English riots. According to the British press, the latter was the nephew of Desmond Noonan, known as ‘Dessie,’ a gangster like his brother, with declining mental health… An unstable professional killer and crack addict, stabbed to death by his dealer in 2005, Dessie had contributed – with more than twenty murders, including that of the head of the main rival gang – to making the Noonans the Kingdom’s main criminal family. A family which he describes as, “Untouchable,” whose troops are, “bigger,” and who have, “more weapons than the police,” in ‘A Very British Gangster.’ Dessie died during the filming of the documentary. He had married his second wife Julie, Mark Duggan’s aunt. After their divorce in 1993, the young man who died last week at the age of 29 had apparently stayed in close contact with his uncle and his brothers.
A journalist for the Sun explained that, “They took Mark under their wing, they loved him a lot, not only as a nephew, but as an accomplice.” According to the English media Duggan was going to see the Noonans in Manchester, and when the aforementioned family came to London, they visited him. If the link between the Noonans and Duggan seemed to be strong, there is nothing as yet to suggest that the family had anything to do with the start of the first riot in Tottenham, which followed the protest march for the young man’s death. Be that as it may, the information will feed the split feelings towards Mark Duggan in the eyes of the English public. The media states that he is described either as, “Starrish Mark,” the drug dealer at the centre of the ‘Star Gang’ of North London, or as the father of a family, saddened along with his wife by a still-born daughter. Placed under surveillance and arrested by the police for fear that he might avenge his associate, he was wrongly killed after a policeman’s radio was shot. Duggan was well-armed, but the shot came from an MP5 submachine gun, used by the London police. The police investigation continues in an effort to determine the exact circumstances surrounding the death.
Source text written by Clément Mathieu. See the full French article here: http://www.parismatch.com/Actu-Match/Monde/Actu/Derriere-les-emeutes-la-mafia-anglaise-322331/
The French POV 