Home and Away star Orpheus Pledger has been pictured for the first time since the 31-year-old was released on bail following a violent attack on a woman earlier this year.
Former Home and Away star Orpheus Pledger has been released on bail following a 96-day stint behind bars for violently assaulting a woman by stomping on her head.
The TV hunk, 31, was on Wednesday pictured walking free from the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court after he pleaded guilty to assaulting a woman multiple times earlier this year.
He was due to be sentenced but magistrate Justin Foster adjourned the hearing to allow Pledger to live in his father’s home in Victoria’s north for six weeks while a corrections order assessment takes place.
Pledger walked free from court with his head bowed while a pack of frenzied media crews snapped the actor.
He was accompanied by a male supporter who shielded camera flashes from the pair before leading them into a white Nissan X-Trail.
The supporter, understood to be Pledger’s brother, honked at reporters from inside the car.
Pledger sat in the passenger seat with a glum expression and placed his hands up to his head.
Mr Foster on Monday told the court he had asked for the actor to be assessed but received a response requesting additional time to produce a more detailed report about 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.”
Defence lawyer Jasper MacCuspie objected and launched a bail application for Pledger, arguing his client was at risk of spending more time behind bars than required.
“Further time in custody is not warranted,” Mr MacCuspie said.
On Monday, Pledger pleaded guilty to intentionally causing injury and unlawful assault in two attacks on the same woman in March during a suspected mental health crisis.
The court heard the woman called triple-0 about 1:35am on March 25 and told operators “he’s coming" before the line disconnected.
Police arrived 15 minutes later to find the victim lying on the floor in pain and unbale to get up.
She was hospitalised for injuries including a hematoma to her forehead, bruising to both sides of her face and “diamond-shaped” bruising on her cheek matching the sole of Pledger’s shoe.
She also suffered lacerations to her cheek and bruising to her neck indicative of potential strangulation, court documents revealed.
A motion-capture camera screwed into a light bulb belonging to Pledger captured part of the attack in which he dragged the woman by the hair and stomped on her head.
The court heard Pledger punched and kicked the same woman on March 1 when she questioned his drug use and erratic behaviour.
The actor was granted bail in late April to undergo an involuntary inpatient mental health assessment but fled the Royal Melbourne Hospital after waiting for 6½ hours.
It sparked a three-day manhunt to locate Pledger before he was arrested in the Melbourne suburb of Reservoir on April 25 and returned to custody.
The Melburnian rose to fame at the age of nine on children’s series Silversun before he secured a role in Neighbours in 2011.
He then starred as Mason Morgan in Home and Away from 2016 to 2019 and appeared on SAS Australia in 2022 but quit after two episodes.
On Monday, the court heard he missed out on a role in US drama series The 100, with the blow prompting him to spiral into a toxic cycle of drugs and violence.
He will be required to abide by a curfew and report to a police station once a week before faces court again in August.