A councillor for Catford's Rushey Green has told of the trauma he experienced growing up in an abusive household with his violent step father in an interview to support the end of male violence against women.

Rushey Green’s Labour Councillor James Walsh told Women Against Violence Expressing Solidarity (WAVES) in an Audio Boom interview aired today (November 18) that his mother met his step father when he was just 10 years old.

But after a whirlwind romance the couple married after just six weeks and things quickly turned sour.

Mr Walsh told WAVES: “One of the most vivid memories I have is during an argument my mother had her head put through the banister and I was invited to come and have a look by my step father.

“The whole five years was peppered with these experiences.”

Mr Walsh also said during the three-minute interview that Christmas and birthdays were always fraught with anxiety.

He said: “It was probably a concoction of mental health, alcohol abuse and addiction and it was kind of toxic. There were parts when it was really scary being at home as I would not want any child to experience that.”

The interview today will form part of The Voices of Male Allies - a series of audio recordings to be played at Deptford Lounge on November 29.