Cop filmed kicking woman into police cell

A Melbourne police officer appears to kick a woman back into her police cell in CCTV footage obtained by a newspaper.

The footage shows the woman, who has a psychiatric condition, calling out to police at the Dandenong station to open the door, signalling she would strangle herself.

Officers open the door to her cell, but the woman tries to escape. Three officers try to push her back in, but she tries to escape again.

A jet of capsicum spray sends her reeling and then a male officer puts his foot on her back and kicks her through the cell door.

Sixteen minutes after the altercation, the woman — who appears to be in pain and is crouched over rubbing her eyes — is given a towel to wipe her face while an officer is seen hosing down the cell door to contain the fumes.

The CCTV footage has only just come to light after it was given to the woman in a recent court case, the Herald Sun reports.

Acting Assistant Commissioner Derek Lamb defended the conduct and told the newspaper the officer's actions were "reasonable in the circumstances".

"I don't believe it's a kick. He says just that, it was about getting space. It's simply designed to push her back in and that's exactly what they're taught," Mr Lamb said.

The woman's lawyer Sam Norton said his client treated poorly and humiliated, and she planned to complain to the Office of Police Integrity.

The woman pleaded guilty to a charge of acting in a manner prejudicial to the good order of a jail cell, which was proved and dismissed at court without conviction.