Ex-soap star Orpheus Pledger who spiralled into drug abuse and violence will beg for mercy today to avoid six more weeks behind bars in a late bid for freedom.
Pledger, 30, faced Melbourne Magistrate’s Court for sentencing on Wednesday over charges relating to his savage attack on a woman in the early hours of March 25.
The vicious assault was captured by a motion-activated camera owned by Pledger which showed him grabbing the victim’s hair and throwing her to the ground before stomping on her head.
Images of the woman’s injuries from the attack show bruises on the side of her face that bore a ‘similar resemblance’ to the sole pattern of Vans sneakers he owned.
On Monday, he pleaded guilty to a raft of charges and was assessed for eligibility to be released on a community corrections order.
Pledger sat quietly behind glass in the dock as Magistrate Justin Foster ordered he serve a further six weeks in custody to undergo a more ‘extensive’ assessment.
His solicitor, Jasper MacCuspie, formally opposed the matter’s adjournment and argued his client should be released having already spent 96 days in remand.
Pledger was initially remande din custody but a late application for Pledger to be bailed and released will now be heard in court at 3pm on Wednesday.
Pledger underwent a brief CCO assessment on Tuesday, which Corrections Victoria determined was insufficient given details of the matter.
Magistrate Foster told the court Corrections Victoria had requested additional time to produce a more detailed report on Pledger’s ‘complex needs’.
‘I was hoping the matter could be dealt with today,’ he said.
‘But noting the seriousness of the offending … In my view it’s appropriate that take place.’
Mr MacCuspie told the court his client had already served 96 days behind bars and that an extended stay would ‘prejudice’ Pledger.
‘I understand the complexities with this manner … (but Pledger) ought to be released from custody today,’ he said.
Magistrate Foster said his client needed an extended assessment because it hadn’t been determined if it was influenced by a ‘drug-induced psychosis or a mental health issue’.
‘Your client has stomped on a woman’s head,’ he told Mr MacCuspie.
The court heard on Monday that Pledger had a successful acting career which peaked with 339 episodes in popular soap opera Home and Away.
But he suffered a devastating blow to his career when a role on a US television show fell through at the 11th hour, and sent the actor into a downward spiral.
Pledger started associating with an ‘antisocial’ crowd and using methamphetamines recreationally which he admitted in court was effecting him at the time of the attack.
The victim called Triple Zero warning police Pledger was in the midst of a mental health incident shortly before the assault, the court previously heard.
She was heard saying ‘he’s coming’ before the line cut out.
Police arrived 15 minutes later and found the woman lying on the ground while Pledger was nowhere to be seen.
He was arrested two days later and remanded in custody until April 15 when he was bailed for one day to receive a mental health assessment at the Northern Hospital.
A police prosecutor told the court on Monday that Pledger warned hospital staff that he was going to ‘kill’ the victim on multiple occasions.
He then fled the hospital, after waiting about six hours for a consult, and returned directly to the victim’s home.
The court heard that when a family member told him he needed to return to custody, Pledger replied: ‘Why? I haven’t done anything wrong’.
Magistrate Foster fumed when told Pledger had escaped from the hospital, saying he ‘bent over backwards’ to approve the bail condition.
A three-day manhunt was launched before he was arrested again and officially refused bail and remanded in custody.
Mr MacCuspie said he understood the magistrate’s reservations about granting Pledger bail given his prior escape but said he would apply for his release.
He argued that a ‘standard mental health assessment’ would be satisfactory for determining Pledger’s mental state instead of an extra six weeks behind bars.
His client’s 96 non-consecutive days remanded in prison was beyond what he would have been sentenced given a lack of priors, Mr MacCuspie told the court.
‘A further six weeks with severely prejudice Mr Pledger,’ Mr MacCuspie said.
Magistrate Foster said his time spent behind bars was ‘well within range’ of a sentence relating to the seriousness of the charges.
Pledger is expected to be formally sentenced when he returns to court following the assessment in August.