Desmond Noonan - Rise of The Noonans

Rise of The Noonans

Control of organised crime in the city fell to Desmond and his brothers following the 1991 gangland murder of rival leader of the Cheetham Hill Gang, Anthony "White Tony" Johnson, whose murder he was charged with and later acquitted of. Over the next several years, he faced a number of convictions in connection to witness intimidation and jury tampering resulting in key witnesses refusing to testify against him and other members of the Noonan family.

By the mid-1990s Desmond Noonan was known as an enforcer, a very dangerous and violent man and had links with a wide range of Britain's underworld.

In 1995, four years later, Desmond was convicted of violently attacking twin brothers, during which he was reportedly described by the court as psychotic, and sentenced to 33 months imprisonment.

By the end of the 1990s the Noonan family had been linked to 25 gangland murders and dozens of robberies and had a stranglehold on most of the nightclub security in many of the UK's major cities; they had also made over £8 million from bank robberies and security alone.

Noonan also began to venture into the nightlife of many other cities to gain more wealth, and power. He and his brothers Damian and Derek started to acquire business interests in nightclubs in Liverpool, London and Newcastle.

Desmond Noonan tried to do deals in other cities with their gangland figures, and was soon becoming involved with a number of crime bosses such as the Liverpool drugs baron Curtis Warren, London show-biz mock-gangster and reputed "friend" of the Krays, Dave Courtney and head of Newcastle's biggest crime family boss Paddy Conroy.

The strength and power of the family, in particular Desmond, allowed him to be a prime peacemaker in the Manchester gang truces which for a short space of time brought the war in Moss Side to an end. Other gangland figures participating in this truce were Paul Massey, Damian Noonan, Paul Flannery and apparently Jimmy "the Weed" Donnelly, who was a prominent figure in the Quality Street Gang, another Manchester gang.

Dominic Noonan on his release from prison in 2002 became head of the Noonan crime family, after Damian's death in 2003. Damian Noonan had died in a motorbike accident while on holiday in the Dominican Republic.