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Posted: 2016-11-01 01:26:00

The leaked report accused Star Casino of under-reporting violent incidents. Picture: James Morgan/AAP

WHILE most inner city Sydney bars and clubs are forced to turn patrons away and call last drinks, violence is prevailing at the Star Casino.

Broken bones and full-blown brawls are also going unreported at the venue, which is exempt from the state’s tough lockout laws.

In a leaked report, the NSW liquor and gaming authority has accused the casino of painting “an inaccurate picture of the level of violence” at the venue.

Violence at the gambling and entertainment complex has been in the spotlight since it was announced lockout and last drinks laws wouldn’t apply to Pyrmont venue to the outrage of the wider liquor and gaming industry.

Now a NSW government report, leaked from the Department of Justice and published by ABC, shows the venue has been playing down its problems.

The review shows only 24 of 111 incidents between March and August this year were included in monthly reports to casino executives.

Police were only called to The Star in 36 of those cases despite their serious nature.

Incidents not attended by police included an occasion where a man’s leg was broken during an incident in the complex’s premier nightspot.

In other incidents not reported to police, someone gashed their forehead, and a melee involving up to five patrons carried on inside the nightclub.

It was also found that the hours after the time when neighbouring bars were made to enforce the lockout laws were among the time brackets considered by the review when the highest proportion of violence occurred inside The Star.

An incident at Marquee nightclub that police were called to. Picture: Gordon McComiskie

An incident at Marquee nightclub that police were called to. Picture: Gordon McComiskieSource:News Corp Australia

After 1.30am hotels, lockouts apply at registered clubs, nightclubs and licenced karaoke bars across the “Sydney CBD Entertainment Precinct”. At 3am, it’s last drinks.

But at the Casino, which is just over the border of the state government defined area, it’s at these times where revellers are free to go in and out and carrying on drinking, and the violence really ramps up — the report found a “higher risk of violent incidents occurring between midnight and 3am”.

“In the discrete time brackets considered by the review, being midnight to 01:30, 01:30 to 3:00, 03:00 to 07:00, the highest proportion of violence incidents (32 per cent) ostensibly occur between 03:00 to 07:00,” the report reads.

“However, the aggregated bracket of midnight to 03:00 is responsible for a total 42 per cent of all violence incidents over the six month period tested.”

Kings Cross nightclubs enforce lockouts at 1.30am just when violent incidents are most likely to occur at The Star. Picture: Gordon McComiskie

Kings Cross nightclubs enforce lockouts at 1.30am just when violent incidents are most likely to occur at The Star. Picture: Gordon McComiskieSource:News Corp Australia

The Star has responded to the report, slamming is as inaccurate and showing a misunderstanding of its incident reporting processes.

“The report fails to address that NSW Police had an on-site presence at The Star between February and September 2015. That on-site presence was subsequently removed,” it said in a statement on Tuesday.

“If police had any concerns, it is inconceivable that those resources would have been withdrawn.”

NSW independent MP for Sydney Alex Greenwich said the numbers showed that controversial lockout laws, currently under review, didn’t reduce violence but misplaced it.

“My constituents in Pyrmont indicated to me that on Friday and Saturday night, there’s a slew of people arriving in the area that weren’t there prior to the lockout,” he told AAP.

“There is obviously a major lapse in judgment from Star’s side and that needs to be rectified immediately with a full investigation and an increased police presence.”

— with AAP

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