Noonan, 45, was detained yesterday morning on suspicion of disorder after footage emerged of him apparently speaking to a gang of looters during the riots.
Witnesses told The Daily Telegraph that the alleged gang boss stood on the corner of King Street speaking on his mobile telephone throughout the trouble, flanked by two teenage boys dressed in black suits.
Amateur footage emerged yesterday showing him dressed smartly in a dark suit, addressing a group of looters who were carrying a plasma screen TV. The young men smile in response and appear at ease in his company.
Noonan's teenage companions were seen sending out text messages throughout the disturbances, witnesses said.
Peter Fahy, the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, said yesterday that he believes the looting was "organised and orchestrated".
One witness said: "They were all wearing suits, which meant they stuck out like a sore thumb from the looters in hoodies baseball caps.
"The young boys spent the whole time texting.
"Noonan was talking seriously into his mobile phone and occasionally stopping to speak to the looters."
The violence in Manchester erupted at around 5pm on Tuesday evening, with groups of youths driving around the city targeting mobile phone shops, electrical stores, designer fashion outlets and jewellers in what appeared to be coordinated manoeuvres.
Many of the youths involved in the violence, including the drivers of some of the cars, were seen speaking on mobile telephones.
As the crowd grew, firebombs were thrown at shops and windows were smashed. Shards of glass carpeted streets along with bricks and rubble used to pelt riot police and firefighters.
As many as 2,000 youths, many of whom were armed with sticks, wore ski masks and hoods to cover their faces as they rampaged through the city centre. Several shops were set alight, including Miss Selfridge on Market Street, while at least two cars were burnt out.
But despite the ferocity of the violence, much of the looting appeared to be more systematic than has been seen elsewhere, with the thugs carefully targeting specific shops and clearing out the items of the highest value.
The windows Svarovski and Links, the jewellery stores, were kicked in and every single glass cabinet was smashed and emptied of bracelets and necklaces, platinum cufflinks and diamond rings.
Forensics officers were yesterday dusting a grand piano in Dawsons music store for fingerprints after looters tried and failed to carry it off. They succeeded in stealing several expensive keyboards.
More than 100 buildings were targeted and 113 arrests were made, including an 18-year-old man suspected of setting light to Miss Selfridge.
Noonan was the willing subject of Donal McIntyre's 2007 documentary 'A Very British Gangster'.
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