Thousands of New South Wales prison officers have walked off the job over the sentence handed to a prisoner who bashed four guards at Cessnock Correctional Complex in February.

The Public Service Association (PSA) said the action stemmed from a three-year sentence, to be served in the community, handed to Cameron Welsh in Cessnock Local Court on Wednesday.

The PSA's general secretary Stewart Little said his members were appalled.

"He seriously assaulted four officers, all requiring hospitalisation, and two of those officers will never work again,"

he said.

Welsh, 26, was convicted of four counts of assaulting a law enforcement officer and inflicting actual bodily harm.

He was also convicted of one count of stalking and intimidating a prison guard, causing fear of physical harm.

The

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