Rise of the Foot Soldier: In My Game, the Choice Is a Jail or a Grave - Tapa dura

Born and raised in East London, Carlton was a prominent member of the notorious West Ham InterCity Firm, one of the most violent hooligan gangs to trouble the football terraces during the eighties. Having earned his reputation as a fighter, it wasn't long before he started working the doors of some of the roughest, toughest clubs in London. He was even a minder for boxer Nigel Benn throughout his glory years.The stories of Carlton's life will make your hair stand on end. He was a key member of the notorious Essex Boys gang which ran riot in the eighties and nineties, sparking a savage drugs war. He's been shot at, stabbed, glassed - he's even had an axe in his head. Yet the event that really brought turmoil into his life was the murder of his best friend in the infamous Range Rover murders. Carlton vowed that he would find those responsible and make them pay.There isn't much that Carlton hasn't seen or experienced in his life and his tales of violence, gang wars and close calls with death will have you on the edge of your seat. He knows how close he has come to dying and has therefore shut the door on a gangland life. He may have changed but, as he himself says, 'I'll always need to exercise the Carlton Leach brand of justice. It's in me...'.

Carlton Leach is one of the most respected and feared faces in the London underworld. Carlton was featured in the acclaimed documentary on football violence, Hooligan, and was also one of the select few to have an episode of Kate Kray's Hard Bastards dedicated to them. His life story has now been made into a major film, Rise of the Foot Soldier.