Donal MacIntyre does have some "respect" for notorious criminal Dominic Noonan
The investigative journalist has created a documentary about his family 'At Home with the Noonans' and although he admits he abhors some of the crimes he has committed - including torture and kidnap - he believes there is more to him.
He told BANG Showbiz: "I respect the parts of him that represent good values and the good things he does, and he knows clearly I disrespect and abhor all those crimes that he does. But I'm looking at him as an observer, I don't look at him in terms of a moral object.
"The whole criminal underclass who are anti-establishment, who are happy to break the law- to observe it, you have to meet them with a certain degree of neutrality."
He also compares the programme to '7 Up', a show which followed seven year olds in 1966 every seven years until the present day.
He said: "It's like '7 Up' for gangsters- the series that followed seven-year-olds in 1966, and they're still following them now. A story told over a longer time is a better and truer story.
"We show you a kid growing up aged 7, and show his route into juvenile crime from the age of 7 to 17."
"At Home with the Noonans" starts April 22nd on Crime and Investigation Network.
