A GROUP of police officers assaulted an Aboriginal man in a northern NSW police station then falsely claimed he had attacked them, continuing to give ''palpably false evidence'' in court despite CCTV footage clearly showing what really happened, a magistrate has found.

Ballina Local Court Magistrate David Heilpern yesterday referred the matter to the Police Integrity Commission, after finding that in lying under oath about the assault the officers had caused the ''administration of justice to be debased''.

Kicked in the head ... Corey Barker.

In a legal costs judgment handed down yesterday, Magistrate Heilpern found that on January 14 last year, Corey Barker, 23, had been arrested after an altercation in Ballina.

The officers claimed that when they attempted to move the man to a different cell he assaulted one of them - Senior Constable David Hill - punching him in the face and throwing his arms around.