Hamilton Police station early yesterday morning.

And the woman and her family are so traumatised by the incident, she is considering getting counselling after hearing his "sickening'' screams from inside the station as the beating continued.

Lisa James -- at the station to deal with an unrelated matter involving her teenage step-son -- watched the incident unfold as one officer pulled the handcuffed man by his feet out of a Task Force truck.

Ms James, who said she knew the man and his family, said: "I think it's terrible. Nobody deserves to be beaten like that. He was handcuffed. It was sickening to see.'' "We had just come out of the Police Station around 4 a.m. and six motorcycle cops pulled up and were excited, saying `wait till they get him here','' Ms James said.

The mother of one son and two-step sons continued: "Two unmarked cars and two of the task force jeeps pulled up and one guy whose name I don't know grabbed him by the feet and dragged him to the ground. "More than ten officers proceeded to kick and stomp him in his back, face, stomach, and they even threw him into the side door of a Police car,'' Ms James said.

"They heard me scream, `No! Stop,' and they immediately took him into the Police station.'' Alleged beating Ms James said officers dragged the man by his clothes and by that time he had regained his footing.

"We heard them say, `we're going to deal with you inside', and we could hear him screaming after they closed the door,'' she added. "He was saying `no, stop, ow, and all this is not necessary!'' Ms James said she is fearful of stepping forward about the incident but claimed the trauma of seeing it would not go away until she did something about it.

"I fear for myself, because when they do see me, I know I'm going to be harassed. But when I close my eyes I see those Police beating him,'' she said.

"I don't know his name but I can identify the ringleader.

"I have boys myself. I fear for my young boys. If they could do this to a man when he is handcuffed, what will they do to my child?'' She added: "I don't care what they say he done. He is a human being. It could almost make you not want to deal with Police.'' Saying that someone should "stand up for the young men'', Ms James added: "If they can't restrain their anger, then they don't need to be on the Police force.'' Police spokesman Gary Venning said that man was arrested after a high speed chase in Hamilton and he punched a Police officer in the face. The two of them fell to the ground and a large crowd gathered. The man was eventually taken into custody. He is expected to appear in court soon. Sgt. Venning added: "I am not aware of any incident outside of Hamilton Police Station.'' Ms James said she had heard from the man's girlfriend who said he was bloodied and bruised in a cell at the station and he would not be released from custody until Tuesday.

She added: "What makes it worse is when I said I would report them they said I didn't see anything and told me to get from around there or I would be arrested.''