A reign of terror aided by criminal brothers saw the Manchester Paedophile, Dominic Noonan, intimidate the public and police alike as his family made £50,000 a night from the late 80s and early 90s clubbing drug scene.
An infamous paedophile gangster who preyed on young boys got away with his sexual offences for years because police turned a blind eye, according to a former detective.
Rick Mortimer has told an employment tribunal that once, when he suggested his Greater Manchester Police colleagues intervened after spotting a suspected paedophile, Dominic Noonan, was leading a boy into a house, he was told: “What we can’t see, we don’t know about.”
It is believed that man was Dominic Noonan, who was, eventually, at the age of 53, found guilty of 13 historical sex offences against four boys as young as 10 and handed an 11-year sentence, Manchester Evening News reports.
But who was Dominic Noonan, and why did the police fail to bring him to justice sooner?
Born to Irish parents and raised in Manchester’s Whalley Range suburb, Dominic Noonan was one of 14 siblings whose names all began with the letter D.
He and his brothers Damien and Dessie quickly developed reputations for armed robbery.
In the late 80s and early 90s, they also ran the city’s doors, including at the famous Hacienda nightclub, controlling who could sell drugs inside, while taking their own cut of around £50,000 a night.
Dessie was the enforcer and hitman, while Dominic Noonan was the cunning and charismatic entrepreneur. Damien cemented loyalties with donations to community causes.
Their empire was rocked in 1991 when Dessie was accused of shooting rival gang leader “White Tony” Johnson dead in a pub car park.
But the trial collapsed amid rumours of jury tampering, and Dessie was acquitted at a retrial.
Dominic Noonan, meanwhile, did his bit to deter pretenders to the Noonan’s gangster crown in Manchester – using a machete to decapitate a rival gang’s dog outside a pub before placing its head on a pool table inside.
His fear factor would diminish, though, when Damien and Dessie died in consecutive years – the former following a motorcycle crash in the Dominican Republic in 2004 and the latter, by then an alcoholic crack addict, when he was stabbed to death by a crack dealer.
Their brother’s predatory sexual ways did not cease, though, nor did his criminal tendencies.
In 2005, he was jailed after a revolver and ammunition were found in his Jaguar.
He was freed on licence in 2010, claiming to have found God and even had a crack at stand-up comedy, but was soon back in prison after going berserk at a woman motorist who beeped at him as he crossed a road.
Dominic Noonan reportedly tapped her car window with a copy of a newspaper featuring a story about him and shouted, “Do you know who I am?”
Having been let out again, he was back inside for being a suspected ringleader during the 2011 Manchester riots.
Then, while out of prison on licence in 2014, Noonan climbed 100ft up the city’s Big Wheel in protest at the latest efforts to recall him.
Up there for six hours, he drew a 1,000-strong crowd, with some shouting “nonce”, suggesting that fewer people were now as intimidated by him.
But Dominic Noonan escaped prison on that occasion, and in 2016, he was found not guilty of engaging in a sex act in front of a minor, although he was convicted of perverting the course of justice by offering £5,000 to the boy’s family to get the charge dropped.
Two years later, though, police had compiled enough evidence to convict him of his sex crimes, and Dominic Noonan could be locked up for most of his remaining life, having been handed a separate 11-year sentence for other crimes such as arson and blackmail.
UPDATE 01.11.25
Dominic Noonan, the Manchester Paedophile, is out of prison and looking for a child to rape, so look out.
The infamous Nonce Gangster is back, mingling with his paedophile criminal brethren, and has allegedly been released from incarceration after serving time for charges related to child sexual assault.
Dominic Noonan, often referred to as Domenyk Lattlay-Fottfoy, was found guilty of 13 offences involving the buggery of four boys as young as 10 years old.
In May 2018, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison after being convicted of eight charges of indecent assault, one count of attempted rape, two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual behaviour, one crime of sexual assault, and one count of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.
His 11-year term for those charges was set to commence upon the conclusion of an existing 11-year incarceration for arson, blackmail, and perverting the course of justice, imposed in 2015.
Dominic Noonan was released earlier this month and plans to challenge the sex offences.
The Home Office has yet to confirm the specifics of his release.
Prosecutors stated that Dominic Noonan ‘groomed and sexually attacked’ young boys over several decades by intoxicating them with alcohol and drugs.
They asserted that he exploited his ‘notoriety’ and ‘reputation’ in Manchester to perpetrate the offences.
A representative for HM jail and Probation Service stated: “Offenders released on licence must adhere to stringent conditions, and we will promptly return them to prison if they violate the rules.”
The Probation Service monitors criminals released on licence and must adhere to stringent rules, including limitations on their travels and interactions with others.
They may be reincarcerated for violating these terms or demonstrating behaviour indicative of an elevated risk to the public.
Dominic Noonan was subjected to a sexual harm prevention order in 2018. Upon his release, he will be subjected to many prohibitions designed to mitigate the risk of recidivism, particularly with permissible contact with children.
The prosecutor stated that he had been convicted of sexual assaults spanning several decades, indicating that his behaviour was ‘entrenched’ and not necessarily mitigated by ‘age or infirmity.’
In conjunction with the judgment, Judge Rudland stated that he will be subjected to stringent licensing requirements upon his eventual release.
Dominic Noonan was initially incarcerated at HMP Five Wells in Wellingborough before being transferred to HMP Full Sutton in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
Before his sentencing, Dominic Noonan was considered the leader of a notorious crime syndicate.
This occurred after the fatalities of his two siblings.
Damien, 37, died in a motorbike accident in the Dominican Republic in 2004, while Dessie, 45, was murdered in Chorlton in 2005.
Dominic Noonan attained global attention with the stabbing death of Dessie, which occurred a few days before the broadcast of a television documentary concerning the brothers.
He sought to usurp the police inquiry into Dessie’s demise by issuing his own call for information.
Before his demise, Dessie was interviewed in conjunction with Noonan for the documentary.
Dessie claimed responsibility for 27 homicides. GMP endeavoured, but was unsuccessful in preventing the transmission following his demise.
The Noonan family originated from Whalley Range, Manchester, and Dominic Noonan is one of 14 siblings born to Irish parents.
The three brothers first specialised in armed robbery but subsequently identified an opportunity with the emergence of the Madchester music movement.
They seized control of the Hacienda nightclub’s entrances and the drug supply at the establishment to solidify their status as prominent figures in the criminal underworld.
In the 1990s, Dominic Noonan was kidnapped from a prison van at a traffic signal in Pendleton, Salford. However, the incident was a deception to facilitate his release from detention.
In May 2014, he ascended the Big Wheel in Piccadilly Gardens as a protest against GMP.
He remained elevated 100 feet for six hours until a significant portion of the city centre was secured.
The alteration of his name constituted yet another affront to authority, and in an attempt to secure new child rape victims with anonymity.
Domenyk Lattlay-Fottfoy advocated for ‘Cherish all who cherish you – dismiss those who disdain you.’
In 2005, he received a nine-and-a-half-year prison sentence when police discovered a firearm and ammo concealed beneath the hood of his Jaguar during a traffic stop.
A judge classified him as ‘a highly perilous individual’.
Dominic Noonan continued to be a target for GMP and other law enforcement agencies until his release on licence five years later.
Dominic Noonan attempted a career as a stand-up comedian but was reincarcerated following a “road rage” incident with a woman in Gorton when he was a pedestrian.
In the midst of the altercation, he exclaimed, “Do you know who I am?” In the summer of 2011, his prominence increased once more when he was implicated in instigating riots in Manchester city centre, leading to extensive looting and the burning of stores.
If you or anyone you know has been affected by the individuals highlighted in this article, please report them to the Police on 101 (999 in an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details on reporting a crime. You can also report to Crimestoppers if you wish to remain completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.