Images of the confrontation outside Moreland train station from the YouTube video. Credit:YouTube A second man, who posted the clip to YouTube, intervenes and pulls his friend from the officers' grip. The officers then turn their attention to him saying, "You're under arrest for hindering." The man replies, "I'm not hindering. I just want to go home." He later says, "You don't need to be grabbing me."

An image from the video. Credit:YouTube. The struggle continues, with the officers repeatedly saying "back off", before one officer sprays the man with capsicum spray at close range. "The PSO has his pepper spray out from the very start of the video, at no time was I being violent or did he state that he was going to use it," the man said. "He not only hit me, but the innocent guy filming it all, that's why the camera cuts away and you can hear him saying he can't see. I was refused water and medical attention until I gave up my details. "I don't feel that pepper spray was needed or the threat of a batton [sic] was needed against me when my hands were up and I tried to walk away multiple times, only to be followed and attacked again."

Speaking later to Channel Nine, Peter admitted he and his friend had been fare-evading but said the PSOs were heavy-handed in their response. He said he only became involved in the incident to try to calm down the situation. "I really just wanted for everything to calm down because it looked like it was going to escalate quickly," he said. "It was ridiculous. To use so much power to stop someone – over a Myki" A Victoria Police spokeswoman said the incident would be reviewed by the transit and public safety commands. "As in all cases where tactical options are deployed, transit management will be reviewing use of force and communication responses," the spokeswoman said.

She said the PSOs spoke to a man who refused to produce a Myki card at Moreland station about 10pm on May 27. "A 28-year-old man from Coburg intervened repeatedly and was arrested for hindering, despite repeated warnings to stop," she said. "He was released from custody and is expected to be charged on summons with assault, hindering PSO and resisting arrest." Peter said he and his friend had left the station when he was "shirt-fronted" by one of the officers. "We had left the station and were in the Gandolfo Gardens when a PSO shirt-fronted me and another stopped my friend and asked him for a ticket," he said.

"I asked the PSO if he had any reason to stop or arrest me, when he didn't reply I said that I was going and side stepped him and walked off. "I made it about 10 metres and up a few stairs when I turned and saw the PSO's man handling my friend, I walked back to be a witness and find out why when they started grabbing me and throwing me around. That's where this video comes in." Peter said he was treated by ambulance paramedics before being taken to a police holding cell. At a cost of $212 million, PSOs were introduced to every metropolitan and major regional train station in 2012 under an election pledge from the Baillieu government to improve safety for commuters. The PSOs patrol the train network from 6pm every night until the last scheduled service.

Victoria Police has recruited 940 PSOs, the last of whom were deployed in November 2014. The officers received 12 weeks' training at the Victoria Police Academy before completing an on-the-job training program with a police officer for three months. They carry a gun, capsicum spray, hand-cuffs, a baton and a radio.