A fan of West Ham United F.C., he became involved in the Inter City Firm, a gang of hooligans who followed the East London club.

In 2003 Carlton Leach wrote a memoir about his criminal exploits, entitled Muscle.

In 2007 a film based on the book was released, entitled Rise of the Footsoldier and starring Ricci Harnett as Leach.

[3] In 2015, Leach worked with Harnett to organise another film about his life, Reign of the General,[citation needed] but after losing a legal battle over copyright, the film was taken over by the owners of Rise of the Footsoldier and released.

[4] Leach claimed to have no part in the film, and commented on Twitter that it was fictional and no longer his story.