Orpheus Pledger: Former Home and Away star walks free from court despite admitting he stomped on a woman’s head after his sickening descent into drug abuse and violence

Former Home and Away star Orpheus Pledger has been released from prison on strict bail conditions, just days after he admitted brutally assaulting a woman.

Pledger appeared in Melbourne District Court for the second time on Wednesday from prison, with his lawyer applying for bail.

He walked out of court on Wednesday afternoon free after a magistrate ruled he could live with his father, a jazz musician, for the next six weeks.

Wearing a grey tracksuit and clutching documents, Pledger was greeted by a large number of TV cameras but refused to answer questions when a supporter pulled him into a nearby car.

He kept his head bowed as he got into a white Nissan X-Trail as the driver honked several times at photographers.

The former TV star was expected to be sentenced by Judge Justin Foster.

Earlier on Wednesday, he had adjourned the case for six weeks, which would have put Pledger behind bars for an “extensive” CCO review.

Pledger’s lawyer, Jasper MacCuspie, argued the assessment was unnecessary because the Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health (Forensicare) reported he no longer met the requirements for compulsory treatment in custody.

Magistrate Foster released Pledger on condition that he reside at his father’s house at Wahgunyah, on the north-west border of Victoria and New South Wales.

He also ordered that Pledger report to police in Cowra, just over the border, once a week and that a curfew be imposed between 11pm and 6am.

His successful bid for release followed just 96 days in pre-trial detention, interrupted by a three-day manhunt after he fled from hospital while free on one-day bail.

The former soap star pleaded guilty on Monday to a series of charges relating to a savage attack on a woman at a Melbourne home in the early hours of March 25.

The brutal attack was captured on Pledger’s motion-activated camera, which showed him grabbing the victim by the hair, throwing her to the ground and then stamping on her head.

Pledger nodded as Mr MacCuspie indicated he intended to abide by the proposed bail conditions and take advantage of the support available during his release.

He then watched the magistrate intently as he weighed up the potential risks to the community following a series of missteps that followed the violent attack.

The victim called Triple Zero and warned police that Pledger had suffered a mental health incident on the fateful evening, the court had previously heard.

She was heard saying “he’s coming” before the line broke up.

Fifteen minutes later, police arrived and found the woman lying on the ground. Pledger was nowhere to be seen.

Photos of the woman’s injuries sustained in the attack show bruises on the side of her face that “bear a resemblance” to the sole patterns of the Vans sneakers he owned.

Two days later he was arrested and held until April 15, when he was granted one day’s bail to undergo a mental health assessment at Northern Hospital.

Pledger fled the hospital after repeatedly telling staff he would ‘kill’ the victim, leading to a three-day manhunt before he was arrested a second time.

The court heard that when a family member told him he was being returned to custody, Pledger replied: “Why? I’ve done nothing wrong.”

Magistrate Foster was furious when told Pledger had escaped from hospital, saying he had ‘tried everything’ to get the bail condition approved.

Police prosecutors opposed the bail application because of the risk that Pledger would breach bail conditions again and because a CCO assessment had not been carried out.

Magistrate Foster also raised concerns about granting bail without a conclusion being reached on whether Pledgers’ offences were ‘drug induced or (resulting from) mental illness’.

However, the Forensicare report showed that Pledger had recovered after his second arrest and was showing signs of improvement in his mental state.

Mr MacCuspie told the court he had been transferred from compulsory treatment to general population without any problems.

“He hasn’t exactly enjoyed his time in prison, but he seems to have become more stable and is doing better,” he said.

The lawyer said his client “accepts he should have returned to court” when he fled on bail in April, adding: “The position he is in now is different to what he was in then”.

The report overrode a letter from Corrections Victoria to Magistrate Foster requesting that Pledger be held for six weeks for a “comprehensive” CCO assessment.

Corrections officers said it would take more than a day to assess whether he was fit to be released into public because of his “complex needs”.

Mr MacCuspie said extending Pledger’s jail term would be “detrimental to Mr Pledger” and “is not appropriate in these circumstances”.

“He comes to court with little record and this is the first time he has been accused of something of this serious nature,” he said.

The court heard on Monday that Pledger had a successful acting career, culminating in 339 episodes on the popular soap opera Home and Away.

But his career suffered a huge blow when a role in an American television series fell through at the last minute, sending the actor into a downward spiral.

Pledger began to associate with an ‘antisocial’ group and used methamphetamine recreationally, which he admitted in court had an effect on him at the time of the attack.

“(Pledger) has himself admitted he has problems with drugs and possibly with his mental health,” Mr MacCuspie told the court.

He argued that such issues are common in cases brought before a police court and questioned why Pledger was “more complex” than others approved for the role of CCO.

The court heard on Monday that Pledger had re-established a relationship with his father while in custody after losing contact as a child.

Mr MacCuspie said his client planned to learn to play music from his musician father while living ‘as far away from the victim as possible’.

He is due to appear in court again on August 16.