A lawyer for a Victorian police officer who faced court over the bashing of two men in the state's north-east says images of the victim's injuries led to charges being laid.

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Police pursued the men after they were seen doing burnouts outside the Mansfield Police Station in May.

Video footage from the officer's car shows two officers beating the men who were sitting on the ground.

Senior Constable Paul Bell, 41, faced the Wangaratta Magistrates Court yesterday when he pleaded guilty to intentionally causing injury and unlawful assault.

He received a 12-month community-based order with no conviction recorded.

His lawyer, Bernie Balmer, says after the victim's photograph went viral on Facebook, the ethical standards department viewed footage taken on a police car camera.

"It was a very short incident and Mr Paul Smith, the magistrate, says it was small incident, a matter of seconds," he told ABC local radio.

"One officer used a baton and the other officer slapped and punched and kicked," Mr Balmer said.

The second officer, David Eric Farrell, 42, of Mansfield, received a similar sentence last month after pleading guilty to intentionally causing injury.

Both were told to undertake anger management programs.