A Notorious Gangster Climbed Up Manchester’s Big Wheel Last Night

As far as grand public protests go, scaling a giant Ferris wheel and waving at the people below doesn’t seem like it would ever really get much done. Unfortunately for Dominic Noonan – an ex-con and a member of Manchester’s Noonan crime family (who you may recognise from any one of the three documentaries they’ve taken part in) – that’s exactly the method he chose to register some disgust yesterday, as he climbed halfway up the Piccadilly Gardens wheel, attracting the attentions of the emergency services and hundreds of onlookers.

Speaking from his lofty perch, the 48-year-old explained that he was being recalled to prison. The reason? A “stupid argument over the washing up”. The authorities had designated him a house to stay in while on probation but he’d stormed out after a spat over the dishes, and so was in breach of his licence conditions. He wasn’t too taken with the idea of re-incarceration, so decided to follow a course of action that would also see him charged with wasting police time and reportedly cost the taxpayer “tens of thousands” of pounds.   

He began scaling the wheel at about 3.30PM, and was down six hours later with the help of a team of fire-fighters. I got to the scene at about 6PM and spoke to some of the people who’d been watching everything unravel from below. This is what they had to say.

For whatever reason, some were hesitant to say much at all about this notorious local organised crime figure.

Dom and Callum

VICE: Have you guys been down here long?
Dom: We got to town about half one, so we’ve been here a while.
Callum: Innit.
D: Then we just watched the guy on the big eye. He’s been there since about half three.

And you’ve been keeping an eye on everything?
C: Yeah, just been just chillin’ over there.

Has anything interesting happened in the five hours since it started?
D: Nah, he’s just been waving and shouting shit.

Did you wave back to him?
D: Yeah.
C: He pointed at me for time, like “You, you, you!” I found it weird, so I just waved again.

Okay. Did you hear about his plans to get into local politics?
D: Yeah, I did, actually.

Would you vote for him?
Definitely not.

Here’s a fun story: while in Strangeways, Dom used to sing Irish lullabies and rebel songs to Dale Cregan.
That is west. That is so creepy.

Would you guys like him to sing you to sleep at night?
Definitely not.
C: Only if he was in a cage.

VICE: So how long have you been here watching?
Liam: Only about 20 minutes.

Do you know much about the Noonan family?
Well, obviously they’ve got a reputation, but I personally don’t know about that. People say a lot of things about a lot of people. I haven’t got an opinion, basically.

What have you personally heard about them, though?
Well, obviously they’ve been on TV and that. Like, doing crime and stuff. So that’s how I know about them. I probably know about the same as what everyone else does.

Fair enough. Did you hear what sparked this off today?
I’ve heard rumours about a gun and that people are going to put him in a bad place for a while.

VICE: Hi Tom. Do you know much about why Dom is currently up the wheel?
Tom: Well, through the grapevine I’ve heard that he’s got a recall to prison.

Did you hear that he was going to run for local MP?
[Laughs] I’ve not heard that, no.

Do you think this might hinder his chances of being elected?
Personally, I reckon it will actually do him justice.

Do you know much about his family history?
I saw his brother the night he died, actually. What’s he called? Dessie Noonan. Yeah, I saw him stumbling out of the pub, so it’s quite weird that I saw that and now I’m seeing this. It’s quite strange.

VICE: How long have you been down here, Mike?
Mike: About 15 to 20 minutes now.

So you’ve missed out on the past four hours?
Yep, my girlfriend texted me saying that there was someone on the wheel. I was at the pub and I was leaving anyway, so I thought I’d just nip past and have a look.

Did you hear what sparked Dom into doing this?
Not really, no.

He broke the terms of his release licence by staying somewhere he wasn’t supposed to, which led to the police recalling him to prison. But the reason he stayed at this place is supposedly because of an argument about the washing up.
I’d say that’s fair enough. I’d probably do the same thing – I hate doing the dishes.

Do you think that this stunt could hinder his hopes of becoming an MP?
I don’t know – I think it depends on who you speak to. It might help his chances. I might vote for him – he’s someone interesting, at least.

VICE: So how long have you been here, Sven?
Sven: About ten years.

No, I meant watching Dom.
Oh, about an hour.

Have you seen anything interesting?
Not really – I’ve just heard that he’s transported himself about halfway up the wheel in a blanket or something.

And a hard hat.
I suppose he’d need one.

Do you know much about the Noonan backstory?
No, not really. They have quite the reputation, though, which is… dynamic, I suppose. Anti-dynamic and techno-specs, as well.

Right, OK. Have you heard about his plans to become a local MP?
Full promotion to him if that’s what he wants to do.

Do you think this will help his chances?
Possibly. Actually, it won’t really do any good for him will it?

No, probably not.

Michael and Anya

VICE: How long have you guys been down here?
Anya: A while, but I didn’t take notice at first – I just went shopping. The guy was still there when I came back, and I’ve been here since.

Have you guys met each other before?
Michael: We started talking because of it, and we’ve been talking ever since.

It’s nice that Dom is helping to forge new friendships. Do you know much about him?
A: No, I thought he was a homeless guy or a drug addict. 
M: Has he got a bald head?

Yeah.
Ah, OK – I’ve seen him in the ‘paper.
A: So what’s he up there for?

It’s a protest against being recalled to prison.
Oh, this is a protest? I’ve heard everyone shouting “jump” at him all day.
[A random passer-by shouts, “Jump!’]
Yeah, like that! 

Dom Noonan didn’t jump and was safely brought down from his skychair at about 9.30 last night.

@CBethell_photo

More times people have done weird stuff in public:

Whitehall Is Closed Off Because a Naked Man Climbed Up a Statue

Meet the Angolan Lady Campaigning to Save Blond People

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