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Former England defender Scott: Domestic abuse 'still so raw'


Former England defender Alex Scott has spoken about the domestic abuse she suffered during her childhood, saying she can "visualise it like it was yesterday".

Scott describes her father's violent behaviour towards her and her mother in her autobiography, and says she wishes she had spoken about it sooner.

Her father, Tony, denied claims that he bullied and abused his daughter on Monday in a Daily Mail interview, insisting that he was strict - but not violent.

Responding on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, Scott said she had chosen to write about her father's behaviour because she wanted to help "free my mum".

The 37-year-old said: "I almost feel angry at myself that I'm allowing him to hurt me again by those claims of lying.

"This book, the reason was to get some peace. And I suppose when you are in peace it gives you a new position of power and that's maybe why he's trying to (respond) right now."

In her autobiography, How (Not) to Be Strong, Scott details hearing her father being violent towards her mother while she and her brother were in bed in their flat in east London.

She wrote: "All I could do was lie there and pray my mum would be alive in the morning."

On Radio 4, she said: "(My mum) doesn't know that her two kids are in the room hearing everything.

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