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Shocking video of a prison inmate attacking a guard and then three more at Cessnock Correctional Centre earlier this year has been released, as prison officers threaten to go on strike over offender's 'slap on the wrist'. Inmate Cameron Welsh, 26, was already behind bars for bashing two men with a baseball bat in the Hunter region when he made the assaults at Cessnock which resulted in two officers being unable to work again. The violent inmate will walk from prison this week after a 'lenient' sentence that has left prison officers in uproar and threatens to throw the court and justice system into chaos. In CCTV inside Cessnock jail, Welsh can be seen running towards a white-shirted officer and knocking him to the ground where the guard is helpless as Welsh continues the attack. The prisoner then pulls off his shirt and stomps around as other officers rush to the stricken guard's aid, but the inmate goes on the attack again. Welsh swings punches as at least six officers try to restrain him. Another officer is knocked to the ground and the melee continues in the video which lasts just under a minute. Prison officers walked off the job on Thursday after Welsh was given what the union called a 'slap on the wrist'. Officers at Cessnock and Bathurst stopped work, and 5,000 officers at 36 of the state's other prisons were expected to follow suit. The walkout would leave courts at Local, District and Supreme levels unable to function, the Public Service Association (PSA) said. But following arbitration in the Industrial Relations Commission the PSA has been ordered to call off the protest. The attack by Cameron Welsh, who 'has a history of violence', resulted in multiple facial injuries for the victims. All four officers were hospitalised, and the union said two would never work again. Prison officials have since transferred Welsh to the Supermax prison at Goulburn where he is isolated and under strict supervision. Welsh was convicted in Cessnock Local Court this week of four counts of assault on a law enforcement officer and inflicting actual bodily harm. On Wednesday, a magistrate gave him a three-year community corrections order and no extra term added to his sentence, meaning he could be freed almost immediately. 'This tells the community it's okay to bash prison officers, that you won't be punished if you do, and you'll be able to return to the community,' Public Service Association president Nicole Jess said. '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 from those who've forfeited their right to walk amongst us. 'Prison officers are absolutely livid about this and expect immediate action from the Minns government.' Public Service Association general secretary Stewart Little was shocked at the magistrate's ruling. 'My phone has gone into meltdown,' he aid. 'I've had prison officers ringing me all day, absolutely incandescent with rage at the signal this magistrate has sent to the community. 'The Attorney-General better get himself out of whatever meeting or media opportunity or announcement he's currently engaged in and get this solved or else the state's prison system is going to go into meltdown.' The NSW opposition said the government had lost the trust of the prison workforce. 'When the people who keep our prisons safe say they've lost faith in the government, it's a damning indictment on leadership,' Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said. 'This strike is not about pay, it's about safety, respect, and a government that has stopped listening.
