Freed gangster Domenyk Noonan is beginning a new career – as a guest lecturer at Birmingham City University.
Noonan, 49, was invited to talk to criminology students about his life yesterday.
He claimed to have received a payment to attend – an allegation denied by the university.
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The infamous Manchester gangster was only freed from his latest stretch behind bars last month.
He is out on licence while he nears the end of a nine-and-a-half year term for being found with a gun under the bonnet of his car.
Now Noonan is planning a university ‘lecture tour’.
He said: “It’s about my life in and out of prison and growing up in a two-bed house with 14 of us in one bedroom.
“I was approached for this out of the blue. They asked me if I would come down and I said yes.”
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Noonan’s talk was arranged by TV journalist Donal MacIntyre, a visiting professor at BCU.
The criminal claimed he had been paid but refused to say how much.
But that allegation was strongly refuted by the university.
Prof David Wilson, a renowned criminologist who leads the course, told a Mail reporter: “I can absolutely assure you that Domenyk Noonan was not paid a penny for anything he said.
“There is no story about paying ex-offenders.” He added: “It would be very surprising if criminologists didn’t speak to criminals.
“The students have to analyse texts which relate to crime, one of those is the documentary A Very British Gangster.
“It was filmed by Donal MacIntyre, who is a visiting professor here, who said he’d be able to get Domenyk Noonan to speak.
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“We thought it was a good idea to see the person who is at the heart of the documentary in order to help them analyse it.”
Prof Wilson said it was common practice for former and reformed criminals, many of whom had written about their experiences, to speak to criminology students.
Other ex-offenders who had spoken to his students included former armed robber Noel ‘Razor’ Smith and ex-inmate Frank Owens, author of The Little Book of Prison: A Beginners Guide.