Home and Away actor Orpheus Pledger saved woman from brutal inner Sydney attack
AN up-and-coming TV star has told how he helped rescue a young woman from the clutches of a hooded predator after she was thrown to the ground and viciously assaulted.
NSW
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AN up-and-coming TV star has told how he helped rescue a young woman from the clutches of a hooded predator after she was thrown to the ground and viciously assaulted.
Home And Away’s Orpheus Pledger has revealed he felt compelled to act when he spotted a suspicious man who appeared to be stalking a young woman through the warren-like streets of inner-city Sydney.
“He just made a run for her. He ran 10 or 15 metres and grabbed her full around the body and threw her to the ground,” Pledger told The Daily Telegraph in his first interview about the terrifying incident.
“She screamed so loud.”
In an exclusive interview, the 25-year-old revealed he still fears what may have happened to the woman, had he not trusted his instincts.
“I instantly knew,” Pledger, a rising star who moved from Melbourne to Sydney to play student doctor Mason Morgan in the hit Channel 7 soap, said.
“My gut told me something was up. I was pretty frightened but the adrenaline kicked in. My initial reaction was for me to step in and to help.”
Justin Bird, 28, was this week convicted of aggravated assault with intent to rob over the April 28, 2017, assault, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.
He will remain behind bars until he is sentenced in August after being refused bail.
Pledger’s account formed part of his witness testimony in court in April and it is only now that Bird has been convicted that he can reveal for the first time exactly what happened that night.
He said he was walking to the share house where he lives when he decided to follow Bird after seeing him acting strangely in Surry Hills.
“It was just a normal night, I was walking home from the gym when I saw a man,” he said.
“He was covered (with his hood), he came out of an alleyway.”
Pledger saw Bird appearing to watch a woman and decided to shadow him for a couple of blocks.
Then, as he turned the corner into Kippax St, he saw Bird hurl the woman to the pavement before bashing her.
“I started running,” Pledger, who has also appeared in Neighbours and The Secret Life of Us, said.
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“I got him off her and I restrained him and I was screaming out to someone, to anyone who was nearby to give me help, to call the police.
“He was trying to run away, but I had a hold of this guy, telling him ‘You’re not going anywhere’.
“She screamed so loud. She was obviously frightened and hurt.”
Speaking on Channel 7’s Sunrise this morning a clearly emotional Pledger said he didn’t hesitate to act and hoped anyone else in the same situation would have stepped in.
“It was a normal Friday evening, I was walking home, just been to the gym, finished filming for the night and I just noticed a suspicious situation. There was a guy with a hoodie on he seemed like he was following someone saw a lady yup in front and my gut instinct told me something was wrong,” Pledger said.
“I was taking the route anyway so I decided to be aware of the situation and out of nowhere he made a run for her and assaulted her and decked her to the ground.
“In that moment all this adrenaline came in and I kicked into action and I ran up to him and I was screaming and yelling at the top of my lungs and just ‘Stop, stop, stop’ and I grabbed onto him and I made sure that he got off her.
“To keep it simple I think I did what I hope most people would do in that situation.
“There was a split decision there was a moment where I thought wow this is actually happening, this is actually happening, I have never been in a situation like that. So of course I had the choice but the way I have been brought up, my core beliefs, I just did what I thought was right and I didn’t think of the consequences in the moment because all I saw was a person that was you know being threatened and I just needed to do what I could to help.
Pledger credited his upbringing for his instinctive heroic actions saying he never thought he might be putting his own life in danger.
“Well this is the thing it is the way I have been brought up. As a human being I feel like I have a duty to take care of myself and those around me. I would do it for you (David Koch) and you (Samantha Armytage) I would do it again, absolutely,” Pledger said.
“Look, she was, she thanked me. I am just happy it turned out the way it did and she is ok. I bumped into her husband not too long ago and he wanted to send thanks from her everything is ok but I can’t say anything for her.
“I just did what I’d hope everyone else would do in the same situation for anyone.”
Pledger’s story comes at a time of heightened awareness of the dangers women face at night across Australia.
It has been brought into the headlines by the case of young Melbourne woman Eurydice Dixon, who was killed on her way home last week in a case that has stunned the nation.
The body of the 22-year-old was found on a football pitch in the early hours of the morning.
Police increased patrols in the days after the tragedy and urged people to be “aware of their surroundings”.
However, the warnings instructing women to take responsibility for their safety have sparked a huge debate on personal safety and in particular that of young women.
“Women should not have to (protect themselves). Women should be able to walk down the street,” Pledger said.
The majority of the 2000 recorded assaults in the Sydney LGA last year were against women. Data from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics shows a 50.9 per cent increase in sexual assaults against women between April 2016 to March 2018.
Bird is due to be sentenced on August 10.
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