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IK Aihie, 20, was held down by British Transport Officers at London Bridge station and had the mesh device placed on him as his horrified girlfriend looked on.

He was arrested after he allegedly became aggressive towards cops when they intervened during an argument with his girlfriend.

Fellow passenger Ayda Mosharraf filmed the shocking incident on July 21.

The video shows Mr Aihie screaming “it hurts, it hurts” as he is held down.

A passerby is then heard to shout: “What the hell are you putting on his head?”

But police have defended their actions, saying Mr Aihie threatened to spit at them before they used the hood covering.

(Image: FACEBOOK)

Mr Aihie's girlfriend, Jessica McConkey, can also be seen on the video in a distressed state as she begs people to film the whole incident.

She can be heard saying: “He's a young black boy, he's had an argument with his girlfriend, that's it. You have an argument with your girlfriend and that happens.”

Mr Aihie was held at an Islington police station overnight following the incident and was later given a caution for a public order offence.

A number of clips of the arrest have since been posted on social media, where they have been viewed thousands of times.

In a different clip, Miss McConkey is heard saying to bystanders: “He's a black boy, I'm a white girl.

“Please, I'm after public help.

“He's done nothing wrong, I promise you, other than arguing with me, his girlfriend.”

Mr Aihie also accuses officers of being “racist”.

(Image: FACEBOOK)

Miss McConkey has since complained to British Transport Police over the use of “excessive force”, which is now being looked at by its professional standards department.

She told The Guardian: “Both IK and I are law abiding citizens and have the utmost respect for the police force and the work they do. However, in this instance we were treated unfairly and the use of force during IK's arrest was excessive and unwarranted and I have made a complaint to the British Transport police.”

Mr Aihie said: “It was a completely terrifying experience for both of us and I've been left bruised and shaken. I've never been arrested before and certainly don't intend to be ever again.”

He added in a Facebook post: “Thank you for all the sharing of that video showing you how racist the police can be especially when they don't know who you are. I'm not being funny I'm not a racist guy or play that race card cause if have a look through my friends list you'll see that 95% of my friends list include WHITE people.”

(Image: FACEBOOK)

A spokesman for British Transport Police said: "The incident occurred on Friday, July 22, shortly after 11.30pm when officers intervened in an argument between a man and a woman. The man then became aggressive towards the officers, at which point he was arrested.

"Whilst being held, he made a threat that he would spit at officers who then placed a spit guard on him. The man has since accepted a caution for an offence under Section 5 of the Public Order Act.

"BTP has since received a complaint from a member of the public in relation to the use of force. This complaint is being investigated by our Professional Standards Department to determine whether the use of force was proportionate and in line with BTP training guidelines."

Alleged police brutality against unnarmed black men has hit headlines recently as the US has been rocked by a number of cases.

Most recently, a black carer was shot as he was lying in the road with his hands raised in the air.