Early Life

He was born in Canning Town

Canning Town

Canning Town is an area of east London, England. It is part of the London Borough of Newham and is situated in the area of the former London docks on the north side of the River Thames. It is the location of Rathbone Market...

 in East London. Leach was catapulted into a criminal career by his love of West Ham. Before long, he was a member of the notorious Inter City Firm

Inter City Firm

The Inter City Firm is an English football hooligan firm mainly active in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, associated with West Ham United. The name came from the use of InterCity trains used to travel to away games...

, a gang of hooligans who followed the East London club.

Criminal Career

He started work as a bouncer

Bouncer (doorman)

A bouncer is an informal term for a type of security guard employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs or concerts to provide security, check legal age, and refuse entry to a venue based on criteria such as intoxication, aggressive behavior, or attractiveness...

 in East London, where he became involved with Pat Tate and Tony Tucker, both of whom worked as large scale dealers in ecstasy during the rave era

Rave

Rave, rave dance, and rave party are parties that originated mostly from acid house parties, which featured fast-paced electronic music and light shows. At these parties people dance and socialize to dance music played by disc jockeys and occasionally live performers...

 in the late 1980's.

Three of the gang, Pat Tate, Tony Tucker and Craig Rolfe, would eventually meet an abrupt and bloody end in December 1995, when they were blasted to death in a Range Rover

Range Rover

The Range Rover is a large luxury four-wheel drive sport utility vehicle produced by British car maker Land Rover. The model, launched in 1970, is now in its third generation...

 on a farm track in Rettendon, in what are known as the Triple Rettendon Murders

Rettendon

Rettendon is a small village in the Borough of Chelmsford in Essex, England about south east of the county town Chelmsford. Situated near the River Crouch the village was once owned by the Bishop of Ely. The A130 formerly passed through the village...

.

In 2003 he wrote a memoir about his criminal exploits entitled Muscle. In 2007 a film based on the book was released entitled Rise of the Footsoldier

Rise of the Footsoldier

Rise of the Footsoldier is a 2007 English crime film released on 7 September, 2007. It is the third film from BAFTA award winning director Julian Gilbey...

 starring Ricci Harnett

Ricci Harnett

Ricci Harnett is an English actor, best known for his role as Carlton Leach in the film Rise of the Footsoldier. He debuted in 1991 in The Object of Beauty alongside John Malkovich. He has also appeared in the film 28 Days Later as Corporal Mitchell...

as Leach.