But by 2am today, Steven was dead. Steven Bosevski, left, with his twin brother Steve in Greece. He had been sprayed with capsicum spray and hit with a police baton on the floor of the eastern terrace, a newly opened open-air beer garden area on the ground floor of the club, during an altercation with police and security guards. The 35-year-old lost consciousness at some point. Despite the efforts of paramedics, he was pronounced dead in hospital a short time later. His brothers were also arrested.

Tony Bosevski said he was thrown to the ground, handcuffed and stunned with a Taser. Steven Bosevski ... described by his twin brother as a gentle giant. Today he showed journalists the red marks left on his torso from the stun gun's barbs, as well as a heavily swollen knee. Steven's twin, Steve Bosevski, said he was also affected by the capsicum spray police used. Police said they were forced to break up a fight that started between two men but appeared to spread quickly through the packed bar.

Officers struck a number of people with their batons, and two security guards hired by the club were also hurt in the fracas. It all started because they tried to move us on and they gave us a push and we pushed them back and that's it, after that I can't remember nothing. We didn't even have a fight, there was no fight Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch, commander of the Central Police Region, said the man who was hit with a Taser was on the ground at the time but not in handcuffs as a witness has reported. He wouldn't say how many times the stun gun was used on him. "That's a matter for our critical investigation team," Mr Murdoch said.



'We pushed them back' By midnight a crowd of about 1000 people had gathered outside the club, eager to join the revellers inside. The small police presence that started the afternoon had swelled to about 50 officers on stand-by outside, the club's general manager, Danny Robinson, said. New people were let in as revellers left the club, Mr Robinson said. Inside, it took a push to set off the chain of events that led to Steven's death, Tony Bosevski said.

"It all started because they tried to move us on and they gave us a push and we pushed them back and that's it, after that I can't remember nothing," he said outside the family's Bardwell Valley home. Both brothers maintain no punches were thrown. "We didn't even have a fight, there was no fight," Tony Bosevski said. "They threw me in the puddle and they handcuffed me and they Tasered me. "I have never screamed so much in my life. I was like a little girl."

Tony and Steve Bosevski said they were surrounded by police and could not see what was happening to Steven. "They were shocking me in the water, my brother was over there, they wouldn't let me see where he was," Tony said. "We were just screaming, trying to find out where he was and we couldn't hear nothing." Steve Bosevski said he asked police to let him go and help his twin brother but they wouldn't let him. 'None of us were drunk'

Steve Bosevski said Steven had been drinking and was not drunk. Mr Robinson also said the brothers "were not heavily intoxicated". "None of us were drunk, we were just having a good time, we were just celebrating with everybody else," Steve Bosevski said, adding that Steven did not have an underlying health problem or medical condition he was aware of. "He'd had two, three beers, that's it." Mr Murdoch said today that he had watched CCTV footage of the incident.

He said he was not aware whether Steven Bosevski had an existing condition, which, combined with the use of the capsicum spray and baton, might have resulted in his death. No known deaths have followed the use of capsicum spray in NSW, he said. "This is a tragedy all round, obviously for the family, for St George Football Club and for the police involved," Mr Murdoch said. The Bosevski family are confused and upset. "[Steven's] a gentle giant, did no harm to nobody and he's gone, he's gone now, for no reason whatsoever," Steve Bosevski said.

"We're just confused, we don't understand what happened." - with AAP Loading Georgina Robinson is smh.com.au's Chief Reporter ge.robinson@smh.com.au