NSW Corrections Minister David Elliott says he has been unable find any evidence that a prisoner who was allegedly attacked by an Islamic State supporter at a jail on the NSW Mid North Coast was an Australian Army veteran.

The 40-year-old man's radicalised cell mate, Bourhan Hraichie, 18, allegedly used a sharp object to carve "e4e" into his head inside the Mid North Coast Correctional Centre in Kempsey last week. The slogan was an apparent reference to the terrorist group's "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" mantra.

NSW Corrective Services Minister David Elliott. Credit:Tim Hunter

The radicalised teenager also allegedly placed a towel over the victim's face and poured boiling water over him, and allegedly broke the older man's sternum.

It was reported that the injured man was a former Toowoomba-based army officer who had served in East Timor, and who was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.