assault claim challenged at police inquiry Corey Barker ... "gaping holes" in his testimony. The testimony of a young Aboriginal man who was allegedly assaulted by northern NSW police contained "gaping holes" and the public needed to know "the kind of violent behaviour this man is capable of," the lawyer representing one of the officers involved has told an inquiry. The claim was made by lawyer Brett Eurell during the third day of the Police Integrity Commission's public hearings into allegations that Corey Barker, 24, was assaulted at Ballina police station on January 14, 2011, after an altercation with police, and that officers then falsely accused the young man of assaulting them. During tense and at times heated cross-examination of Mr Barker, Mr Eurell, representing Ballina Constable Luke Mewing, grilled the 24-year-old about his previous altercations with police. Arrest ... a screen grab of Barker's alleged bashing at Ballina police station. This included a conviction for assaulting a police officer in Byron Bay in 2010 - a crime for which Mr Barker was serving a suspended nine-month jail sentence at the time he was allegedly assaulted by police - and a conviction for common assault in 2008. When counsel assisting the commission, Stephen Rushton, SC, objected to Mr Eurell's questioning, the lawyer accused Mr Rushton of "making a case" and "asking certain questions" and not asking others. "I would have thought it was in the public interest to know what kind of violent behaviour this man is capable of," Mr Eurell said. There are, throughout this witnesses evidence, a number of gaping holes and a number of attempts to downplay certain aspects of what occurred. Mr Eurell and other lawyers representing police in the case have suggested that Mr Barker had a history of violence towards police, and had again been aggressive towards them on the night in question. You agree that, having been arrested, you were angry ... you were intoxicated ... these were the type of circumstances where you lose your temper? Mr Eurell asked. "Yes," Mr Barker replied. These are the types of circumstances where you become violent?