Convicted woman basher and former Home and Away star Orpheus Pledger has walked free from jail on appeal after a County Court of Victoria judge ruled he had served enough time behind bars.
Pledger, 31, had been sentenced in August to seven months in prison for a savage attack on a woman in which he was seen stomping on her head.
He was jailed after pleading guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates Court to assaulting the woman on two separate occasions in March.
The first time, he kicked and punched his innocent victim in the face after she raised concerns about his drug use and declining mental health.
He then attacked her a second time, dragging her by the hair and stomping on her face while she was on the ground.
Pledger was arrested but bailed on April 22 on the condition he underwent a court-ordered mental health assessment.
He absconded from a hospital the next morning, sparking a manhunt that ended three days later when he was remanded in custody again.
On Tuesday, County Court of Victoria Judge Michael Tinney cut Pledger loose despite hearing evidence of ‘worrying behavioural signs’ displayed by the former actor while he was free on bail.
The court heard bail monitors noted Pledger had missed several appointments in the past two months and had exhibited concerning behavioural changes, including being overly talkative, speaking off topic, grandiosity and euphoria, and had self-adjusted his medication.
Judge Tinney himself stated he believed the ‘wheels seemed to be falling off’ of Pledger’s rehabilitation.
Pledger denied he had relapsed into drug use, the court was told, but had not been tested.
Judge Tinney said he was ‘deeply troubled’ by the development, noting a psychiatrist had found Pledger was at an increased risk of reoffending if he relapsed into drug use.
‘His relevant functioning had deteriorated to the extent it’s described as concerning,’ he said.
In August, Magistrate Justin Foster jailed Pledger saying he accepted the actor had issues with drugs, but it was not an excuse for the violence.
The magistrate also raised concerns about Pledger’s lack of insight into the offending.
On Tuesday, Pledger’s barrister Jonathan Barrera conceded his client still could not explain why he attacked the woman but said he had since shown remorse.
He argued Pledger’s early guilty plea, limited criminal history and good prospects of rehabilitation ought go towards a lighter sentence.
The barrister argued Pledger had already served 97 days of pre-sentence detention and should be released on a community corrections order.
Judge Tinney agreed, finding Pledger had spent enough time behind bars.
The judge set aside the magistrate’s decision and re-sentenced Pledger to 97 days in jail, reckoned as already served, and a two-year community corrections order.
Under the corrections order, Pledger will have to complete 150 hours of unpaid community work and receive treatment for drug abuse and mental health issues.
In his re-sentencing, Judge Tinney said Pledger had carried out unprovoked assaults against a vulnerable woman.
‘It is disturbing, it is serious and it’s pretty incredible that you would conduct yourself in this way,’ Judge Tinney told Pledger.
He noted the actor had missed psychiatric appointments while on appeal bail and had altered his anti-psychotic medication dosages without advising a doctor.
The judge said while he held reservations about Pledger’s recent ‘hiccups’, he was still ultimately a 31-year-old man with good rehabilitation prospects.
Pledger appeared shocked as he learnt he would not be sent back to prison.
He donned a cap and face mask as he left the court and chose not to answer reporters’ questions.
The former actor – who played Mason Morgan on the soap for 339 episodes from 2016 to 2019 – had been arrested the day after he allegedly assaulted the same woman, who can’t be identified for legal reasons, for a ninth time since 2021.
Security footage of the incident showed Pledger grabbing her hair and throwing her to the ground before stomping on her head.
The court heard a triple-0 call by Pledger’s assault victim warned police that he was in the midst of a mental health incident.
The woman was heard saying ‘he’s coming’ before the line cut out, the court was told.
She suffered a number of severe injuries from the March 25 incident, including haematomas to her forehead, cuts to her cheek and bruising to her neck, back of the hand and cheek.
The woman told police that she ‘believes he will eventually kill her’, the court was told, and supported police acting on the assaults.