Deep Cover: How I took down Britain’s most dangerous gangsters

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From there he slowly worked his way in, doing the odd drug deal, and building valuable acquaintances with some of the main players in south Manchester. He was put to work to gather info on criminals taking over from the feared Gooch Gang, many of whom were jailed in 2009. Ringleader Colin Joyce was caged for 39 years and Les Amos was given 35 years for a catalogue of crimes, including murder. An explosive first-hand account of Level 1 undercover police work, from the cop who infiltrated and dismantled some of the UK's toughest gangs and high-profile gangsters, including Salford's 'Mr Big' and cop killer Dale Cregan. For fans of Running with the Firm, Good Cop Bad War and Soldier Spy His DNA and fingerprints were erased from the national database, and he was assigned a new passport, birth certificate, credit cards, and driving licence. It was decided I needed a girlfriend so Nikki (a fellow UC officer) would be dressed to the nines in Jimmy Choo heels with a Gucci or Vuitton handbag. Some of the practices adopted by those infiltrating the world of activism I find absolutely disgraceful," he says. "It's a different world to that of organised crime."

The rise and fall of Dominic Noonan, the paedophile gangster who once ruled Manchester's underworld Paul Massey was known as Salford's 'Mr Big' (Image: Manchester Evening News) Read More Related Articles I put myself up for the risky stuff because I felt I could do it and I felt I should. The police get such a bashing, but we don't hear about the every day, when a child is saved, or a vulnerable person is protected." I'm proud of the work I did that kept people safe, that stopped them from being shot dead, that removed guns from the streets. That's what I signed up to do.

After a stellar career undercover Doyle moves on to finish his police career after adding several major ,and dangerous,investigations to his CV. Even now, I can tell when someone's an off-duty cop just by listening to their conversation in a café.

The final part of Doyle's book tells of the ramifications of the stresses and things he saw as a policeman and his struggles with his mental health are as "edge of the seat" as his adventures in the force It wouldn't be long before Shay's prodigious talent caught the attention of the top. Then came the call that changed his an offer to join the secret Level 1 undercover unit known as Omega. And it was easy to see why they wanted him; he wouldn't have to stray too far from what he already knew. He had all the attributes of a professional criminal - the athletic physique of a cage fighter, the talk, the walk. Streetwise and fearless, he'd be a match for the most hardened villain. He was given a new identity, his DNA and fingerprints were removed from the national database, and so began the life of Mikey O'Brien.

And a big part of that, he says, is that new officers, without experience in covert work, failed to understand his role. It's a common failing in modern police forces, he believes. Shay now works with organisations to break the stigmas around mental health, particularly in the emergency services.

This is a fantastic read, I read it from start to finish in 5 hours.....I hadn't intended to but it was that gripping. The suspected gumnan was one-eyed drug dealer Dale Cregan. He fled to Thailand, but was arrested at Manchester Airport on his return. Armed police pictured during the search for Dale Cregan My home life suffered though. I knew when I started the job it was madness, and that’s exactly what it turned out to be – absolute f***ing madness.” There he unleashed a hail of bullets on the two unarmed officers, tossed a hand grenade on their dying bodies and then calmly handed himself in at Hyde police station. Pc Fiona Bone (left) and Pc Nicola Hughes (Image: PA) It wouldn't be long before Shay's prodigious talent caught the attention of the top. Then came the call that changed his life: an offer to join the secret Level 1 undercover unit known as Omega. And it was easy to see why they wanted him; he wouldn't have to stray too far from what he already knew. He had all the attributes of a professional criminal - the athletic physique of a cage fighter, the talk, the walk. Streetwise and fearless, he'd be a match for the most hardened villain. He was given a new identity, his DNA and fingerprints were removed from the national database, and so began the life of Mikey O'Brien.

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Soon he was headhunted by GMP's specialist undercover unit and tasked with infiltrating the city's underworld. All of his old life was removed and he was given a new identity - that of Belfast-raised 'grafter' and armed robber Mikey O'Brien. I remember watching it all unfold and thinking it was like Northern Ireland in the bad old days," writes Doyle. "There was an air of excruciating tension unlike anything I'd ever witnessed in the police before." To add credibility to his cover story, he worked alongside Nikki, a fellow Level 1 covert operator who dressed up in Gucci and posed as his girlfriend. Nor does he view his own disillusionment as an isolated case. "Many officers in undercover policing walk away with a very bad taste in their mouths.

In the astonishing book he has written about his covert career, Doyle explains that while surveillance is the art of seeing and not being seen, undercover work - especially cold, long-term infiltration - is the art of "being seen and using it to your advantage". But the 17 years he spent in his covert career took a terrible toll on his personal life and mental health, sparking a catastrophic breakdown. Now, in an explosive memoir, Doyle (not his real name) has told how he went from a council estate kid to become one of the UK's elite undercover cops.Doyle began his career in Greater Manchester Police on the beat in Tameside. But his talents and street smarts were noticed by his superiors from the off.