I just saw "A Very British Gangster" , a documentary about the gangster Dominic Noonan in Manchester, England. Noonan is supposedly the head of a large criminal organization but claims to be a former armed robber gone straight. He says he makes his living as a armored car service owner.

The director doesn't do a very good job in explaining what Dominic's interests and business actually are. Dominic and his myriad brothers and nephews seem to be involved in banking/loansharking, and possibly narcotics and burglary.

Throughout the film Dominic is mostly seen settling neighborhood disputes or giving loans to people down on their luck. Since the film was made with Dominic's active participation I suppose it only makes sense that it would turn a blind or at least sympathetic eye to any of his less savory activities. Dominic is very careful to never say anything that can used in court against him though he can't resist boasting about how witnesses against him rarely seem to show up in court.

Dominic's older brother Dessie is a alleged enforcer for the gang who's allegedly done over twenty murders.

Throughout the film Dominic is mostly attended to and followed by young teen thugs or thugs in training even. By their own admission these people are only on the periphery of Dominic's affairs. It's only at a family funeral do we get a glimpse of the older adult hoodlums who presumably run most of Dominic's businesses. I guess they were wise enough not to put their name and face on camera.

It would be informative to find out from a UK native how important or powerful this Dominic Noonan really is. I'm afraid the director of this documentary was more interested in making a homage to Tarantino or Guy Ritchie than anything else.

Ive heard of the name but thats about it,,

yeah seen it, apparently that Dominic Noonan is also a homosexual and he openly admits it on the film/doco.

not the usual template for your run of the mill gangster.

And Ron Kray was what? Straight!! I don't think so.

i think everyone knows the history about the kray twins and the homosexuality of Ron but come on....are we serious or what?

gay gangsters....they are few and far between for obvious reasons.

Why would Dominic Noonan come out and say that?

He controls ones of the UKs biggest Firms, he is respected all other the UK, even by Cocky Warren.

because everyone probably already knows and he didnt want there to be any misconception when doing the film/doco or that he was hiding it.



maybe he is but how many others are out there that are heads of firms/mobs that are openly homo? not many thats for sure, hence why i say not your usual template for gangster.

i thought the template for a gangster is a high flyer, who steals, fights, kills, threatens, extorts, and has women at their picking....not men so to speak. thats all i meant.

cheers.

I just picked this up, this movie is a s**t to get hold of.

I just watched this last night.
Now to me, is he really a respected head of a criminal organisation?
Key word is "respected".
Looking at the company he keeps with a buch of "semmingly thick" teenage boys and just his general demeanour, I just can't really see him being any thing close to a type of crime king pin...?
Perhaps he did keep his real cohorts of screen to protect but even still, he seems to be a guy with no money, a bunch of second hand vehicles, very low IQ kept company and not to mention he's gay.

Is there someone who can really confrim whther this guy is actually the bollocks in Manchester or just England in general or is he just some small time thick crook with a story/reputation blwon out of proportion?

I hope thats an attack to British Organised Crime from a country that has the GANG, the Mongrol Mob?!

He may be a big name in Manchester but he means nothing to us up north!

Wanna say that to him?

Well seeing as i live in a different part of the world and i am not a criminal,i'm not likely to bump into him anytime soon. And i did not mean to be disrespectful of the man's criminal power,i just meant he has no real relevance up here because we have a whole load of our own villains,thank you very much!

Like the Gremlins and Conroys?

Yes to a degree. The Gremlins are not gangsters as such,they are football hooligans. The Conroys are not quite the force they were but are still not ones to cross. The Sears brothers are the main power these days.

Are the Sears into second hand motors, protection and intimidation?

Amongst a lot of other stuff,yes!

Ah, the usual "gangsters"!!

Can't the UK seem to get it right?!

Haha yes the Mongerel Mob, they may be thick but some of them are bloody intimidating, I'll give them that.
We have everything now though, Triads, La Cosa Nostra, but mainly just gangs of thugs, Mongerel Mob, Black Power and Youth Gangs.

But not slagging him off, it's just in the film, he's certainly not what I expected from a supposed head of a respected criminal organisation or family.
Hanging around with a bunch of 17 & 18 year old boys who clearly aren't anything special in the brains department...
Don't know, just wanted to know from someone who maybe knows a bit more about him or comes from Manchester.

If he wasn't a Noonan, the parents would be calling him a child fiddler.