A CHIEF constable last night promised an inquiry after an innocent man was left with extensive injuries following a beating by police officers.

Stephen Whenary was so badly injured by police officers who burst into a bathroom that he needed 13 weeks off work.

Teesside Magistrates' Court was told he was sprayed in the face with CS gas, then pulled from the shower and beaten around the head with a baton.

At one point, there were as many as 19 police officers at the house in Pine Street, Norton, near Stockton.

After being dragged naked, bloody and battered from the house, the 36-year-old was charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.

But yesterday he walked free from court after being cleared by a judge who said the police evidence was riddled with discrepancies. The four-day hearing was told how: Almost every police officer in Stockton responded when a PC put out a call for help; The policeman alleged to have administered the most serious injuries went on holiday the day before the trial and so could not give evidence; Other details of the incident were lost when one officer's notebook was accidentally destroyed in the wash; One officer said Mr Whenary ripped the shower door off its hinges to use as a weapon, but another said it was kicked off by a policeman; Police said Mr Whenary was almost "superhuman" in his ability to shrug off CS gas, a claim rejected by the judge; Three officers who went to the house have never been traced.

Last night, Cleveland's Chief Constable, Sean Price, said: "This case raises very serious issues and, as the public would expect, we will be investigating them regardless of whether any complaint is raised."

Mr Whenary's solicitor, Carroll Slaney, described the injuries he suffered as wholly inconsistent with the police account of the alleged violent confrontation.

Ms Slaney said: "Mr Whenary was so badly beaten he required immediate medical attention.

The injuries, which were extreme, were recorded and photographed as evidence.

"We have always believed the injuries were wholly inconsistent with the charges relating to him."

District Judge Roger Elsey decided Mr Whenary, who lives with the former wife of a policeman, was not guilty of headbutting PC Steven Meredith.

Mr Whenary, 36, of Greta Road, Norton, originally faced three charges of assault on a police officer and two charges of resisting arrest. But four charges were dropped during the trial.

Dismissing the final charge, Judge Elsey, said several police officers gave differing accounts of what happened in the bathroom when Mr Whenary was arrested.

The officer said to have smashed the shower door and hit Mr Whenary over the head with his baton did not appear at court to give evidence.

The trial heard that PC Shaun Mahaffey went on holiday two days before he was due to give his account of the incident. Charges relating to him were dropped.