A care home worker from Malvern has shared his story of domestic abuse.

John James, 55, describes how he suffered during an abusive relationship.

He said: “It's hard to summarize what happened. I fell in love, or thought I did, with a Romanian girl I met at work. It was like a tornado hit me. She was everything I ever wanted.

“A month in and she began pinching me and thumping me and, if I complained, then my manhood was questioned so I stopped complaining.

“After that it was the digs and insults, the humiliation, interspersed with intense love and affection.

“Then the violence started, vicious attacks that I still feel today. One attack left me on crutches for three weeks, off work for five.”

He added: “When it ended the police did not believe my report which sent me on a downward spiral into the world of self-harm. It took a long time to come out of that."

John has written a book called From The Darkness.

He said: “I went to India and Nepal to get away and while there I changed into a different person. I knew when I came back that I had to write the book and to help others.”

John has organised a book signing and hopes this event and his book can help shine a light on domestic abuse towards male victims.

He said: “Domestic abuse is seen as a woman's issue, even Women's Aid say on their website that 'Domestic abuse is a gendered crime'...it's NOT.

“Over 700,000 men in the UK alone report domestic abuse every year, many more do not report it.”

Last year John went to Sundsvall in Sweden to tell his story and now his book is used by the university as a teaching aid.

John also hosts a podcast where he talks to male survivors of abuse and says that some of the stories shared are “horrific”.

He will host the book signing at Abbey Road Coffee as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

To find out more about the book signing visit the Facebook event page here.