‘Make sure you comply’: Former Home and Away star Orpheus Pledger released on bail after abuse allegations

A disgraced Home and Away star has been released on bail after violently stomping on the head of a woman at a Melbourne home earlier this year.

Disgraced Home and Away heart-throb Orpheus Pledger has been released from jail after pleading guilty to violently stomping on the head of a woman at a Melbourne home earlier this year.

Pledger faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday where he was granted bail despite previous bolting from a hospital bed during a court-ordered medical assessment, sparking a three-day manhunt.

Pledger’s lawyer Jasper MacCuspie successfully convinced the court Pledger’s mental health had “stabilised ”after taking new medication.

“The position he remains today is different to what it was then,” he said.

“He is doing better.”

Mr MacCuspie also argued it was Pledger’s first time in jail.

As of today, the fallen TV star has been in pre-sentence custody for 96 days.

Magistrate Justin Foster granted strict bail with a number of conditions before directly addressing Pledger, stating: “Make sure you comply.”

“Yes, your honour,” Pledger responded.

Mr Foster told the court he was granting bail as the “goalposts” had changed since Pledger’s escape from hospital in April.

The magistrate also said it could take up to six weeks to receive a full report from corrective services which he needs ahead of sentencing Pledger.

“I am conscious about the police prosecutor say... about risk but I’m of the view that the risk can be mitigated,” Mr Foster said.

The police prosecutor had said: “There are concerns that there is an unacceptable risk element.”

Pledger will stay with his father who lives on the Victoria/NSW border in Wahgunyah. He is required to report to police once a week and is unable to leave the home between 11pm and 6am.

He will be sentenced on August 16.

Disgraced Home and Away star Orpheus Pledger violently assaulted a woman by dragging her to the ground and stomping on her head. He was charged with injury and unlawful assault.

Footage of the chilling incident was released by the courts earlier this year.

Disturbing CCTV of brutal assault on woman

CCTV released by the court shows Pledger following a woman outside a residence before dragging her backwards in the early hours of March 25.

It is apparent in the footage the 31-year-old then pushed the woman to the ground, raised his foot, and stomped on her.

Images of the victim after the attack presented to the court and seen by news.com.au show what appear to be bruises in the shape of shoe prints on her face and head.

According to prosecutors, the soles of a pair of Vans sneakers belonging to Pledger matched the bruises.

Police attended a suburban Melbourne home at 1.35am that morning after a triple-0 call cut out.

The woman was taken to hospital with bruising, cuts to her cheek, and bruising to her neck, which police claimed indicated strangling.

Police earlier revealed the words “he’s coming” were heard on the emergency call before the line disconnected.

Police arrested Pledger later that day, with the news of his arrest first revealed by news.com.au in mid-April.

Pledger has been in custody for just shy of 100 days.

Pledger’s full-blown meth habit after US rejection

Pledger sparked a three-day manhunt during the court process after absconding from the Royal Melbourne Hospital on April 22 during a court-ordered medical assessment. He was taken back into custody on April 25.

Mr MacCuspie, previously argued that upon release, Pledger planned to reside with his father in regional Victoria to “get himself straightened out” and learn music.

The court heard on Monday that the Australian actor’s life began to spiral into ill mental health and drug use after getting painfully close to breaking into Hollywood.

Mr MacCuspie said Pledger was in the “late stages of negotiations” to join the cast of the hit US drama – The 100 – near the end of his time at Home and Away, which ended in 2019.

Orpheus Pledger sparked a three-day manhunt in April by absconding after being sent to hospital for a health assessment. Picture: VicPol

Pledger is perhaps best known for playing Mason for 339 episodes of Home and Away. Picture: Troy Snook

He said a “last-minute” rejection from the show proved “quite a destabilising event for him”.

Mr MacCuspie further argued Pledger’s “mental health has deteriorated while in custody” but added he has “never had a formal diagnosis”.

Pledger’s counsel stated that he began using meth in his mid-late 20s but never developed a full-blown dependency.

It was argued that his usage intensified after he was rejected from The 100, where he believed he had all but secured work.

He further added that 96 days of pre-sentence detention was “sufficient if not almost there” for punishment, arguing instead for a community corrections order.

Prosecutors argued the “nature and gravity of the offending … is a serious incident.”

“This is not a trivial case of … violence,” they argued, also ultimately accepting a community protection order would be appropriate.

Pledger’s last TV appearance was on SAS Australia in 2022 where he abruptly quit the show two episodes in.

Pledger is perhaps best known for his three-year stint on the iconic Australian soap Home and Away, during which he played student doctor Mason Morgan for 339 episodes.

The character was killed off the show in 2019.

He also acted in Neighbours in 2011 and starred in 26 episodes of the mid-2000s dystopian teen drama Silversun.

His most recent TV appearance was in the third season of SAS Australiain 2022.

After two episodes, Pledger abruptly quit the show when the cast and crew expressed concerns over his “erratic behaviour”.

Attempts were made to suppress Pledger’s identity and court proceedings, but a joint legal challenge by several news outlets, initiated by news.com.au, won the right to report certain aspects of the case.

Originally published as ‘Make sure you comply’: Former Home and Away star Orpheus Pledger released on bail after abuse allegations