He worked for a time at local newspaper The Newton Guardian, the experience inspiring him to write.
In 2012, he won the Writers' Guild of Great Britain award for Best Episode of a Continuing Drama for his work on Hollyoaks.
[3] It was nominated for a BAFTA children's award in the drama category in 2016 but lost out to the winner Refugee.
[4] Leather would alternate between adult and children's drama, writing for McGovern's Broken, and the Apple TV+ thriller Suspicion, as well as The Dumping Ground and The Worst Witch.
In 2018, he wrote the television film Mother's Day, based on an infamous IRA bombing attack in Warrington, close to where Leather had grown up and of which he had memories.