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10 Infamous Gangsters of Manchester, UK

The vibrant city of Manchester boasts a rich history, picturesque architecture, a thriving art scene, major football clubs, world-class universities, and much more. However, just like any other city in England, it has had its fair share of troubles with crime over the years. It is one of the drug hotspots in the UK, and it鈥檚 not surprising that some of the most infamous drug dealers have called Manchester home.

The city鈥檚 underworld has witnessed the rise and fall of notorious gangsters such as the Noonan Brothers, who have disrupted peace and order in society. Some of them are infamous for their cruel tactics, violence, and reign of terror. While the city has significantly made efforts to address crime, some of these names can hardly be forgotten. Here are the 10 infamous gangsters of Manchester.

1. Dale Cregan

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Cregan, also known as 鈥極ne Eye鈥� for his missing left eye, is one of the most infamous Manchester gangsters. Born on June 6, 1983, he began dealing drugs at a high school before moving in with his sister in Spain. Upon his return to the UK, he took up the firearms crime business, and began collecting machine guns. He was now trading in harder drugs such as cocaine too, and soon, he got caught up in gang feuds.

On 18 September 2012, he shot down two police officers; Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone. The attack was described as ‘a despicable act of pure evil’ by then-British Prime Minister, David Cameron. Cregan was convicted of the murders in 2013. He later confessed to two murders in 2012, connected to a gangland feud in Manchester. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

2. Desmond Noonan

Also known as 鈥楧essy’, Desmond Noonan was a notorious gangster from Manchester and a member of the Noonan Crime Family. He was born to an Irish family in Whalley Range, Manchester, on 1 August 1959. His life in crime started in the early 1980s, working as a doorman in clubs. He had a strong physique and his reputation as a fighter earned him good deals as a doorman in Manchester Clubs. Soon, he began to hire his men and by the late 1980s, it is believed that more than 60% of nightlife security in Manchester was run by the Noonan family.

Desmond and his brothers, carried out bank robberies in major England cities, making over 拢8 million from banks and the nightlife business. Desmond was infamous for his violent methods and by the mid-1990s, he was known as one of the most dangerous enforcers in the underworld. At the end of their 20-year reign over the city鈥檚 criminal scene, Desmond and his brother Damien were linked to at least 25 gangland murders. He was fatally stabbed on 18 March 2005. He died the next morning. His funeral was attended by hundreds of locals.

Read also; 10 Famous 1960s British Gangsters.

3. Paul Massey

Massey was born in Salford in 1960 and started his life of crime at age 12. He committed petty crimes such as theft and minor burglaries. These earned him a spot at an approved school, where he continued to exhibit violent and rowdy behavior. In April 1999, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison for a knife attack. The jail term was reduced to 10 years on appeal. It is reported that after leaving prison, Massey got involved with Stephen Britton, leader of 鈥楾he A-Team鈥� gang in Salford.

He also allegedly acted as a mediator in the city’s criminal underworld. Massey established security companies in the 1990s. Working with Damien and Desmond Noonan, Massey’s companies enabled the Noonan Brothers to control the doors of nightclubs in Manchester. Massey was shot dead by a masked gunman on July 26, 2015. The gunman was identified later as Mark Fellows.

4. Billy Griffin

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Billy Griffin and his sister, Lauren, are members of a County Lines route supplier鈥檚 group called the 鈥楤ugsy Malone鈥� gang. It was headed by Bon Bon Kekula, a prominent drug dealer in the area. The Manchester-based gang has been involved in a series of drug trafficking operations. Between October 2015 and October 2016, they were involved in a conspiracy to supply Class A drugs in Grimsby. The area is one of the easy targets for organized crime groups dealing drugs. Both were arrested alongside other members of the gang and charged with plotting to supply cocaine and heroin. Billy was sentenced to 4 years in 2019.

Have a look at 15 Most Famous Gangsters in Liverpool, UK.

5. Paul 鈥極ne Punch鈥� Doyle

Doyle is a former gangster whose criminal career spanned over five decades. He hails from Salford, where he steadily established his position in the city’s underworld, inspiring both fear and respect from his fellow criminals.  He earned his nickname from his fighting reputation and ability to easily knock down anyone who crossed him. He began his life of crime in his teenage years, committing a burglary with his brother.

He worked his way through the criminal underworld to become a major trafficker of hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine. Doyle carried out armed robberies too. In 2015, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison for planning to smuggle in large amounts of cannabis, heroin, and cocaine estimated at 拢300 million. He was released after serving eight years and now claims that he is reformed.

6. Dominic Noonan

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Brother to gangster Desmond Noonan, Dominic is one of the most infamous gangsters in Manchester. Together with his brothers, Desmond and Damien, he headed the Noonan crime family. This was an organized crime group in the 1980s and 1990s and one of the most notorious for gruesome violence and murder. The Noonan family rose to prominence after the death of Cheetham Hill Gang leader, Anthony 鈥榃hite Tony鈥� Johnson in 1991.

By the end of their reign, they were linked with at least 25 gangland murders. Dominic Noonan has been convicted for numerous criminal activities, including armed robbery, fraud, police assault, possession of a firearm, witness intimidation, sexual assault, and prison escape. In May 2018, he was convicted of 13 sex offences against minor males and awarded 11 more years in prison. The Noonan Brothers were the subject of the 2005 Donal MacIntyre鈥檚 documentary 鈥� A Very British Gangster.

Check out the 20 Best Mafia Movies to Watch on Netflix.

7. Anthony 鈥榃hite Tony鈥� Johnson

Anthony Johnson was a member of the Cheetham Hill Gang in the 1980s. The gang operated in Manchester, committing robberies and running drugs in clubs. He was born on 22 July 1968, in Manchester. His mother was 15 at the time. Johnson lived with his step-grandmother for the better part of his childhood. At age 16, he left school and found work as a window cleaner. It was around this time that he got initiated into the world of crime.

Within six years, he was driving a flash car, and this made his mother suspect that he was into illegal activities. He soon became friends with some members of the Cheetham Hill Gang, which was a predominantly Black gang. This would explain why upon joining the gang, he was often referred to as 鈥榃hite Tony鈥�. Anthony Johnson committed robberies and gang member killings at first, before handling the drug business. He steadily rose through the ranks to become a leader. He would finally meet his death in 1991, after a confrontation with the Noonan Brothers. He was shot dead at a car park on Winterford Road on February 1991. Desmond Noonan was later tried for the murder.

8. Ian Brady

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Often referred to as the 鈥楳oor Murderer’, Ian Brady is undoubtedly one of the most infamous and twisted criminal figures in the history of crime. He was born in Glasgow, but after a series of running into trouble with the law, courts sent him to Manchester to live with his biological mother. He had been given up for adoption. However, his life of petty crime only became worse in the city. Barely a year after arriving in Manchester, he was caught with stolen lead seals which he intended to smuggle out of the market.

  By age 18, he had been sentenced to 2 years in a borstal institution. In a bid to ‘better’ himself, Brady eventually turned to reading literature on Nazism, sadism, and sexual perversion. Between July 1963 and October 1965, Brady carried out gruesome murders in and around Manchester. Five children aged between 10 and 17 fell victim to his psychopathic acts, which later became known as the Moors Murders. His girlfriend Myra was convicted of being an accomplice to the murders. He was diagnosed as a psychopath in 1985 and died at age 79 in 2017. He had been confined in Ashworth Hospital.

9. Damien Noonan

The 鈥榞angster of gangsters鈥�, Damien Noonan is no unfamiliar name in the history of Manchester鈥檚 underworld. Damien was a member of the infamous Noonan crime family, prominent in the 1980s and 1990s. With his brothers, Desmond and Dominic Noonan, he rose from a relatively poor Irish family in Whalley Range to become a feared crime boss in the city. He was involved in armed robberies, drug dealing in nightclubs, and gangland killings.

He formed relationships with other gangsters including Paul Massey, who became an associate of the Noonan crime family. Running most of the nightclubs in Manchester at the time, they made a fortune which made them a formidable target for other gangs. To cement their power, the Noonans became synonymous with violence and under-handed tactics to maintain control. They鈥檙e suspected of having committed at least 25 gangland murders. Damien died in a motorbike crash in 2003, marking the eventual downfall of the Noonan reign.

Read more on; 10 Famous Gangs and Criminal Organizations in British History.

10. ‘Bon Bon’ Kekula

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Bon Bon Kekula was only a young teen when he got recruited by a drug dealer and gang leader; Simon Simpson. Kekula was already interacting with crime before that, having had several convictions for robbery. He was jailed at 19 for the same. At the time, Simpson was operating several drug lines across the south coast and was attracting significant attention from law enforcement authorities. At 21, Kekula was well in the drug trade, dealing heroin and cocaine.

He was however arrested in 2011 in a raid and charged with plotting to supply crack cocaine and heroin. The charges were reduced to laundering 6,000 pounds, and Kekula served a few months in jail. Upon release, he formed his own County Lines route to supply drugs from Manchester to Grimsby. He named his gang the 鈥楤ugsy Malone Gang. It was made up of mostly young men, who doubled as consumers and sellers of the drugs. In 2018, he was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Over time, crime in Manchester has reduced, thanks to the strong commitment of law enforcement and relevant authorities in combating illegal activity. In 2020, a reduction in crime by 15% was reported by Manchester Police. Continued efforts to manage, if not eliminate crime, are evident.