Push to challenge sentence that sparked prisons protest

Cameron Welsh assaulted prison officers at Cessnock Correctional Centre, in the NSW Hunter region, in an incident earlier in 2025, with four taken to hospital and two left unable to work again.

Colleagues across 34 other jails walked off the job on Thursday, sending prisons into lockdown, and planned to continue their protest on Friday.

On Wednesday, a magistrate decided not add extra time to 26-year-old Welsh's current sentence, leaving prison workers incensed and concerned over their safety.

An urgent Industrial Relations Commission hearing late on Thursday stopped the strike continuing, despite the commissioner saying the officers' anger was "understandable".

Prosecutors appeared at Cessnock Local Court on Friday for a sentence correction hearing, typically held to fix an error of law made in a sentence.

Magistrate Robyn Richardson declined the application, although the sentence could still be appealed to a higher court.

Corrections Services Minister Anoulack Chanthivong indicated on Thursday he would write to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions seeking an appeal of Welsh's sentence.

Officials from the Public Service Association said the majority of NSW's 36 prison were operating as normal on Friday, with any disruptions brought about by the strike "localised".

Premier Chris Minns had pleaded with officers not to defy the court order.

"It's an incredibly difficult job. There's an enormous sense of frustration in relation to this sentence, and many prison officers believe they're punching bags," he told 2GB radio.

"There's no question that it was a violent assault, but this is an essential service and we need to keep the public safe by keeping prisoners locked up."

Commissioner Janet McDonald released her reasons for striking down the industrial action on Friday, citing the independence of courts and government as crucial in her decision.

"The industrial action in this case was precipitated by understandable anger on the part of correctional officers to the apparently lenient sentence given by a magistrate," she said.

"However, as the PSA accepted, the judiciary is an independent arm of government …. this is a fundamental tenet of our system of government. No amount of strike action can change that reality."

Welsh received a three-year community corrections order after he was convicted of four counts of assaulting a law enforcement officer and one count of intimidating with the intent to cause fear or physical harm.

PSA president Nicole Jess said the sentence sent the wrong message.

"In giving Mr Welsh a slap on the wrist this magistrate has delivered a slap in the face to every prison officer in this state who keep our community safe," she said.

Australian Associated Press