A MAN found naked and running around a field was kicked and beaten with a baton by police officers, a witness has told an inquest.

Kirk Williams, 26, of Stockton, had been drinking and taking drugs the night before he was seen with no clothes on in a field off the Moorhouse Estate, Eaglescliffe on Sunday, April 27, 2011.

The eyewitness told the inquest that two police officers kicked Mr Williams, who was jumping around and scratching at himself.

The witness added that one of the officers hit him three or four times with a baton in an attempt to restrain him.

The inquest jury had previously heard accusations that Mr Williams, a father-of-two living with his parents in Eaglescliffe, had been involved in a violent argument with his former girlfriend much earlier in the morning. He had been drinking and had taken cocaine and the stimulant known as MCat.

Police eventually took him into custody at Middlesbrough Police Station and to James Cook University Hospital an hour later where he died at about 2.30pm.

One witness told assistant Teesside coroner, Sam Foulks at the coroner's court in Middlesbrough, that she had taken photographs of the struggle to restrain Mr Williams.

The female witness, who can not be identified for legal reasons, said she saw one officer kick Mr Williams and use a baton as up to four officers were grappling with him on the floor. A second officer also kicked or him three or four times. A second witness backed up her claims that a police baton was used.

The witness said: "It seemed inappropriate. He wasn't hitting out. I was shocked."

Under cross examination from Cleveland Police's barrister, Toby Hedworth, QC, the witness conceded that the photographs did not show any violence from police and she could not see if Mr Williams, who was 6ft and 18-and-a-half stone, was in fact restrained when the alleged violence was used.

The inquest is expected to last for up to five weeks.