I have seen numerous fights, almost weekly over 3 years in my previous job, none of which resulted in either police or door staff having to repeatedly punch their attackers. The usual technique is to evade the drunk's blows and kicks until enough people are available to take a limb or two each. Having watched this video a few times, it does look to me like he's hitting her in retaliation, not self-defence - which is unnacceptable. It looks like he loses his temper and can't cope with what he's required to do, frankly - understandable, but not permissable. However, I don't think it's somehow LESS acceptable because she's female, because I've witnessed that it can take 5 large men to restrain one small woman who has, to use a technical term, "lost it." Did the fact he was having trouble subduing a female make the officer more angry - who knows. If it did then he needs to really sort that out. I'm not black, so don't feel I can comment on the race issue at all, because it's very easy to say you see no racism when in fact you've never been in a position to suffer from it. Finally, I find the bottom 2 lines of the BBC's report, a quote from SY police, deeply worrying: "It is worth noting that as a result of the original incident the individual was convicted of a criminal offence." That is the same family of thought that says it's okay to gun people down if you suspect they're terrorists, and that it's okay to torture anyone you suspect. A civilised society never justifies abuse by referencing the character of the victim - human rights are inalienable, for nice and nasty alike, because once we start down that route, in no time at all nobody is safe from abuse.