Five Illawarra hotels listed among the 100 most violent in the state were simply the most popular, hotel operator Raz Dema said yesterday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
As director of the RDL Group, which owns four popular Wollongong nightspots, Mr Dema said the rankings reflected the popularity of pubs and clubs across the state.
"It's sheer volume of people," he said.
"A pub in the middle of nowhere with five customers a day isn't going to be up there is it?"
The Harp Hotel, the Glasshouse Tavern and the North Wollongong Hotel in Wollongong were named along with the Ocean Beach Hotel at Shellharbour and the Palm Court Hotel at Corrimal as having the most assaults in the first nine months of last year.
RDL Group owns the Harp Hotel and the Glasshouse Tavern.
The Harp Hotel was highest on the list, coming in at equal 20th with 19 assaults occurring on the premises between January and September last year.
The list was provided by police after a freedom of information request by Fairfax.
More detailed information, including figures on assaults occurring outside pubs and clubs was withheld.
Mr Dema said his bars adhered to responsible service of alcohol laws and had their own security guards to curb violence.
"I think violence has been declining over the years and I've been doing this for 20 years," he said.
"Violence is a rarity these days."
He said the nightclub section of the Glasshouse Tavern had introduced plastic cups in the wake of three glass attacks there in less than two years.
Street patrols by security guards at RDL nightspots were designed to reduce violence in nearby areas of the hotels, Mr Dema said.
The North Wollongong Hotel, Palm Court Hotel and Ocean Beach Hotel all declined to comment yesterday.
Lake Illawarra Licensing Police Sergeant Gary Keevers said he was not at liberty to comment.
Wollongong Detective Chief Inspector Joe Mura said police were not surprised by the rankings as they were aware of every crime category and where their command ranked.
A 2001 Bureau of Crime Statistics report showed that in Wollongong, 6 per cent of licensed premises accounted for 67 per cent of all on-premises assaults.
Chief Insp Mura said it was still the case that a small proportion of pubs were involved in a high proportion of assaults.
"It's definitely the most popular ones that are frequented by the
