A DAD who suffered years of abuse and attempted suicide has written a book he hopes will give strength to other victims.

Father-of-three Ian Lomax, aged 57, of Smedley Avenue, Great Lever, has written his second book, Return From the Abyss.

It charts his turbulent life, from his early years in Farnworth to running away to Paris at the age of 14 and his seven-year-old son being snatched by his Greek wife.

His first book, For the Love of Christopher: A Father’s Tale, charted his journey, from meeting his future wife at a Corfu bar while on holiday, the breakdown of their relationship, the abduction, court cases, getting arrested in Greece, taking his plight to a top lawyer in Brussels and finally being reunited with Christopher, now aged 23.

Mr Lomax, who has dedicated the book to his mother Irene who he calls his rock, said: "After writing my first book about the abduction of my son in Greece, I decided to write a sequel.

"Abduction was not the only pain I suffered in my life and I nearly ended it, because of it, by attempting suicide.

"I suffered heartache as a child.

"From the age of just four-years-old, I faced the wrath of my father.

"I was punched in the face while I was talking to my mother, for no apparent reason, and the abuse carried on until the age of 16, until I finally stood up to him and put an end to it.

"I wanted to write how the abuse affected me personally and how it affected my life and how it made me rebellious

"I was always locked in my room and not allowed to play with friends.

"I ran way from home at just 14-years-old, alone and afraid — too scared to go home because of mistreatment by my father."

His father John died in 1990, at the age of 67.

Despite never having written a book before, Mr Lomax's emotional and gripping debut 60,000-word novel was written in just two weeks and released last summer.

Return From the Abyss followed six months later, also published by Prestwich-based company i2ipublishing.

Mr Lomax, who works for Bolton Council’s enforcement department, said: "I hope by writing this book it will help people who have suffered abuse to go to someone in authority and not to be afraid like I was.

"I hope this book will give people hope and strength and courage that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

"Will I write another book? Watch this space."

Lionel Ross, from i2ipublishing, said: "It brings really forcibly forward the fact that people's upbringing, to have a terrible one like he had, could have made a lesser person into a complete mess.

"It's very much to his credit and that's why we called it Return From the Abyss."

Return From the Abyss is available now from Waterstone's and Amazon.