Victim feared he would ‘kill her eventually’: TV star Orpheus Pledger pleads guilty to violent assaults

A court has heard damning evidence of a Home and Away star’s violent assaults of a woman that left her fearing for her life and with injuries so “serious” she was “unable to get up” at the time police arrived.

Former Home and Away star Orpheus Pledger lost out on a role in a major US drama series before descending into a toxic spiral of drugs and violence, a court had heard.

Shocking new details of the 31-year-old’s criminal offending were heard in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday, where he pleaded guilty to several assaults involving a woman earlier this year.

The court heard Pledger attacked the woman, throwing her to the ground and kicking and punching her at a home in Melbourne’s inner north on March 1.

The attack followed an argument over his drug use and spiralling mental health, the court heard.

Weeks later, at about 1.30am on March 24, Pledger was captured on a hidden camera grabbing the same woman from behind, pulling her to the ground by her hair and stomping on her head.

She had been on the phone to police at the time and was heard saying “he’s coming” before the line disconnected.

Police got to the woman 15 minutes later, where she was lying on the floor with serious injuries requiring hospital treatment.

Orpheus Pledger on SAS Australia 2022. Picture: Seven

Disturbingly, detectives linked Pledger to the heinous assault by matching the pattern on the soles of his Vans shoes with the bruising marks left on his victim’s face.

Police arrested the actor but he sensationally fled custody while awaiting a mental health assessment at the Royal Melbourne Hospital on April 23.

For the first time it can be revealed the actor immediately returned to the home of his victim.

The court heard he told her “I haven’t done anything” before disappearing, sparking a three-day police manhunt.

At the time, the victim was on the phone with a relative, who hung up and alerted police.

Court documents reveal Pledger is accused of using violence against the women nine times since 2021, that the abuse appeared to be escalating and that the victim believed he would “kill her eventually”.

Pledger’s lawyer Jasper MacCuspie told the court the actor started taking drugs, mostly methamphetamine, in his mid to late 20s.

Orpheus Pledger lost out on a role in a major US drama series before descending into a toxic spiral of drugs and violence, a court had heard.

The drug habit was funded by his Centrelink payments, given Pledger’s acting jobs have dried up.

Mr MacCuspie said the actor’s fall from grace was spurred by his failure to land a gig in the US post-apocalyptic science fiction TV series, The 100.

The lawyer described this as a “destabilising event” for Pledger, who descended into drugs.

“He certainly feels terrible for what has happened and the impact it’s had on (his victim),” Mr MacCuspie told the court.

Since entering custody, the ex-soap star has worked five days a week in the Metropolitan Remand Centre kitchen.

Orpheus Pledger’s lawyer argued he should be sentenced to a Community Corrections Order. Picture: Victoria Police

The actor’s fall from grace was spurred by his failure to land a gig in the US post-apocalyptic science fiction TV series, The 100, a court has heard.

His lawyer argued Pledger should be sentenced to a Community Corrections Order, having already spent 97 days behind bars.

Once freed, Pledger intends to move to his jazz musician father’s home in Wahgunyah, about 50km from Albury/Wodonga, where he will learn to compose music, the court heard.

The police prosecutor told the court additional prison time would be appropriate for Pledger given the severity of his crimes.

“This was a serious incident. Police arrived 15 minutes after they were called and the victim was still on the floor, unable to get up,” the prosecutor told the court.

“She sustained serious injuries due to the assault to the head.

“(Pledger) immediately returned to the victim’s address (after absconding). That shows a lack of understanding of the seriousness of this.”

Pledger was a child actor on The Secret Life of Us and played Noah Parkin on Neighbours in 2011, before starring as aspiring doctor Mason Morgan on Home and Away from 2016 to 2019.

He will be sentenced on Wednesday.

Originally published as Victim feared he would ‘kill her eventually’: TV star Orpheus Pledger pleads guilty to violent assaults