It's 1993 and the far-right are trying to get a foothold in Manchester. The British National Party has recently started a branch in the south of the city, but they're meeting fierce resistance from Manchester's militant anti-fascists.
A meeting between the two warring sides is set up in a Moss Side pub. In attendance is one of Manchester's most infamous gangsters, a man rumoured to be linked to more than two dozen murders. And it's said he left the BNP in no doubt whatsoever that their presence wasn't welcome in his city.
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Desmond Noonan was a feared member of Manchester's underworld during the heady days of the late 80s and 90s, controlling the city's drug trade through a regime of brutal violence including stabbings and shootings. What's less well-known about him is that he was also a prominent anti-fascist activist, willing to do whatever it took to drive the far right out of Manchester.
Dessie was born to working-class Irish parents and raised in Whalley Range, as one of 14 siblings whose first names all began with the letter D. He began his climb up the ranks of gangland Manchester alongside his brothers Damien and Dominic.
They initially specialised in armed robbery, but as Acid House and ecstasy saw Manchester become one of the clubbing capitals of the world, they adapted to the times. At 6ft tall and weighing 20st Dessie was a huge, intimidating presence - and he wasn't afraid to use violence to get what he wanted.
He had been working as a bouncer in Manchester since the early 80s. And with him playing the role of enforcer while also forging links with organised crime groups across the country, 'the Noonans' took control of the doors of the city's nightclubs, including the Hacienda - and the drug dealers within them.
But at the same time as the Noonans were building their criminal empire, Dessie, a die-hard Manchester United fan, was also a prominent member of the city's 'hands on' anti-fascist movement. In the late 70s Manchester was a stronghold of the National Front.
Recruiting at pubs and football matches, the NF exploited the poverty, prejudice and desperation found on many of Manchester's council estates to bolster its numbers. That was until a few young working-class activists, mainly drawn from the Socialist Workers Party and the Anti-Nazi League, decided to fight back.
The 'Squads', as they became known, responded to the NF in kind - with violence. And Dessie, left wing, Irish republican, proudly anti-racist and handy with his fists, was exactly what they were looking for.
In clashes in the street, in pubs and at the football they made Manchester a very uncomfortable place for the NF. And when the NF dissolved into various warring factions, leading to the rise of the British National Party, the 'squads' evolved to Anti-Fascist Action, with Dessie at the helm.
In a 1997 interview with Red Attitude, an anti-fascist Manchester United fanzine, Dessie spoke about his role in the AFA. Describing it as a 'hands on type of outfit', Dessie said the AFA was an 'activist organisation run by people that are prepared to go out and do the business against the fascists'.
"I've enjoyed telling people what they're doing politically is wrong and above all I've enjoyed hurting their organisations and I will continue to do if they carry on, as they are a disease and they need to be picked out," he added.
Dessie also spoke about his role in driving the BNP out of Manchester. He said 'within weeks' of setting up the south Manchester branch in 1993 the BNP's organiser met the AFA in a pub in Moss Side to discuss 'surrender terms'.
"The reason AFA's been strong in Manchester is that everyone's stuck together," Noonan told the fanzine. "We've had London firms down and lads from all over to help us.
"We've stood strong in situations, we've never backed down, and I don't think we will back down at the end of the day. I believe that if you stand together in solidarity you'll get rid of whatever you want."
The meeting is also referred to in the book No Retreat: The Secret War between Britain's Anti-Fascists and the Far Right. According to authors Dave Hann and Steve Tilzey it took place in the now demolished Seymour pub at Upper Chorlton Road in Whalley Range.
An AFA member referred to a 'Dessie' is quoted as having told the BNP organiser: "There's one thing that not many people know about me... and that's the fact that I'm anti-fascist to the core. Now tell these lads what they want to know, because I don't want to come back here and see you again."
Dessie reportedly remained involved with AFA throughout the 1990s, even as the Noonans' rein of terror continued. In February 1991 'White Tony' Johnson - a leader of the Cheetham Hill Gang, was shot dead on the car park of the Penny Black pub.
Dessie went on trial for his murder. The first trial collapsed amid rumours of jury tampering and at the second Dessie was acquitted. Four years later Dessie was convicted of attacking twin brothers. In court he was repeatedly described as 'psychotic and sentenced to 33 months imprisonment.
But his violent past would eventually catch up with him. In an ironic twist of fate Dessie, an alcoholic who'd made a fortune from selling drugs, became addicted to crack cocaine.
In 2005, he was stabbed to death by drug dealer ' Yardie Derek' McDuffus at a house on Chorlton's Merseybank estate, a couple of miles from the Whalley Range street where he was born. His grisly death, aged just 45, came just days before a Channel Five documentary about the brothers was shown.
In it Dessie smirked as he hinted at being involved in 27 murders. Eight months before Dessie's murder his brother Damien, the head of the family, died aged 37 in a motorbike accident in the Dominican Republic.
With just Dominic, who would later be jailed for 11 years after being found guilty of 13 historical sex offences against four young boys aged as young as 10, left, the empire they'd so ruthlessly built was over.
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