MB ChB Manch 1958, MD 1969; FRCS Eng 1966.
Leighton was born on 6 March 1934 and gained his medical education in Manchester. He held resident appointments in Manchester and ophthalmic appointments in Guildford and London. Leighton returned to Manchester in 1967 as senior registrar in the department of ophthalmology at the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital. He was appointed senior lecturer in ophthalmology at the University of Manchester in 1969 and from 1973 was consultant surgeon at the Royal Eye Hospital, Manchester, before being appointed consultant ophthalmic surgeon to St Helens and Knowsley Health Authority. Leighton was a member of MMS and of the Royal Society of Medicine.