After being sentenced to prison, a former star of Home and Away is anticipated to file an appeal. He led police on a manhunt that lasted three days.
Orpheus Pledger, 31, was given a seven-month prison sentence by Magistrate Justin Foster on Friday when he appeared back in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court dressed in a black hoodie.
Mr. Foster declared, “This court does not and cannot allow the use of drugs to explain violence against women.”
“It appears that you primarily downplay your role and place the blame on the victim.”
Pledger entered a guilty plea to counts of unlawful assault and recklessly inflicting injury last month. The allegations stemmed from two attacks on a lady in March that occurred during a suspected mental health crisis.
The woman called police at 1.35 a.m. on March 25 out of concern for Pledger’s mental health, according to testimony given in court. The call ended when she said, “He’s here.”
When the officers came fifteen minutes later, they discovered the woman was hurt and couldn’t get off the ground.
When she arrived at the hospital, the medical staff saw that she had several bruises on her face and neck, including a “diamond-shaped” bruise on her cheek that matched Pledger’s shoe sole.
Part of the incident was recorded by a motion-capture camera that was inserted into a lightbulb. Pledger was seen stamping on the woman’s head and dragging her by the hair.
According to testimony presented in court, the woman called police at 1.35 a.m. on March 25 because she was worried about Pledger’s mental state. “He’s here,” she said, ending the call.
Fifteen minutes later, the officers arrived and found the woman injured, unable to move from the ground.
Her face and neck were covered in bruises when she arrived at the hospital, one of which was a “diamond-shaped” bruise on her cheek that matched Pledger’s shoe sole.
A motion-capture camera submerged in a lightbulb captured a portion of the event. Pledger was observed dragging the woman by her hair and pounding on her head.
After serving three months in jail, Pledger was eventually freed on bail in July to live with his jazz musician father in northern Victoria.
Mr. Foster stated that it was necessary to postpone the case for six weeks so that community corrections could draft a report regarding Pledger’s “complex needs,” even though he had planned to sentence the former TV star on July 3.
After being turned down for a role on the US series The 100, the actor’s recreational drug use increased, according to his attorney Justin MacCuspie, who also revealed that the actor’s mental state had gotten worse.
Mr. MacCuspie remarked, “He certainly feels terrible for what has happened and the impact it’s had.”
“In summary, I believe he has made every effort to demonstrate to Your Honor that he is resolving the fundamental issues that brought him before the court.”
However, Mr. Foster claimed that Pledger’s failure to attend The 100 had a major influence, since it was now known that Pledger started using drugs six years earlier.
“That’s just what happened,” he told the court.
“Drugs, not any underlying issue, is what caused your mental health to deteriorate,” Mr. Foster stated.
“The stomping actions were unacceptable in every manner, shape, or form.”
Before landing a spell on Neighbours in 2011, Pledger started acting at the age of nine, appearing in commercials and the children’s show Silversun.
In Home and Away, he played Mason Morgan from 2016 to 2019, and in 2022, he had his most recent appearance as a participant on SAS Australia.
Pledger was given a seven-month prison sentence and was mandated to serve a 12-month community service order after his release.
Mr. Foster acknowledged that Pledger would file an appeal.
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