A five-hour siege which involved a prison officer being taken hostage at the Mid North Coast Correctional Centre has been resolved.
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Corrective Services NSW Commissioner Peter Severin said the incident ended just before 3pm and praised the staff involved.
"Correctional officers at Mid North Coast did an exceptional job in remaining calm during this tense stand-off, while also retaining control of the situation," Mr Severin said.
"Prison officers trained in hostage negotiation were able to successfully convince the inmate to release the officer, and we are all very relieved by this outcome."
The incident began mid-morning when a 32-year-old maximum-security inmate punched the officer before threatening them with a prison-made weapon.
It is understood the inmate became angry about not receiving his mail after it was intercepted and found to be concealing illicit drugs.
The inmate was placed in a segregation cell after the hostage negotiator reached a successful outcome at the Aldavilla facility.
