POLICE have been ordered to pay a man who rode his push bike down the steps of a Gold Coast RSL club on Anzac Day $2000 in court cost compensation after it was found they used excessive force when arresting him.

John Beard’s lawyer Campbell MacCallum said his client was just joking around after a few drinks.

His crime wasn’t riding down the front steps of the Southport RSL Club, but rather not wearing a helmet while doing so.

Police chased him and tackled him to the ground.

Yesterday in the Southport Magistrate’s Court all the charges against Mr Beard were dropped and it was revealed the policeman who arrested him, Senior Constable Nathan Irwin was now under investigation and had been referred for further disciplinary action.

media_camera John Beard with lawyer Campbell MacCallum outside Southport court today. Picture: Stephanie Bedo

The charges included assaulting or obstruction of a police officer, serious assault of a police officer causing bodily harm and failing to wear a bicycle helmet.

Police claimed Mr Beard was riding a bicycle without a helmet when he was approached by a police officer, who he then punched in the head.

But security camera footage showed Mr Beard was chased down and tackled to the ground by officers.

media_camera CCTV footage of a man tackled to the ground outside Southport RSL.

Mr MacCallum said Mr Beard should never have been charged in the first place.

He said Mr Beard – who is seeking further compensation and has made official complaints to the Crime and Corruption Commission - suffered an injury to a shoulder, grazes to his head and was left emotionally distraught .

“He’s quite upset about going into public, given that he was only just riding a bicycle at the time and was tackled off the bicycle for the mere fact that he did not have a helmet on,” he said.

“(The footage is) a little bit disturbing.

“It seems Mr Beard was having a bit of a joke - he’d had a few drinks on Anzac day, he rode his bike just down the footpath a distance and didn’t have a helmet on.

“Immediately upon seeing the police, he did the right thing, stopped what he was doing, rode his bike a short distance and then he seems to have been tackled fairly aggressively to the ground and dragged around the neck by two police officers.”

The CCC says it referred the matter back to the QPS for handling.

More details in tomorrow’s Gold Coast Bulletin.