By Alex Crowe
WARNING: This article contains graphic detail that may distress some readers.
Melbourne actor Orpheus Pledger has been remanded in custody to face serious assault charges after he absconded from a hospital and led police on a three-day manhunt.
The former Home and Away star was charged after allegedly assaulting a woman at her home on March 25.
Video footage from the property, released by the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, appears to show Pledger approaching the woman from behind and grabbing her hair. He is then alleged to have dragged her to the ground, before stomping on her head.
An arrest warrant was issued for Pledger, 30, after he fled from the Royal Melbourne Hospital on April 22 during a court-ordered medical assessment. Police arrested Pledger on April 25 and he appeared in court via video link on Friday.
Pledger’s lawyer, Jasper MacCuspie, told the court he had not been informed of his client’s arrest by police and had instead learnt about it through media reporting. MacCuspie said Pledger would plead guilty to the assault charges when he next faced court on July 1.
Orpheus Pledger voluntarily left SAS Australia early in the series after being called on to discuss his lack of engagement.Credit: Channel Seven
He allegedly assaulted the victim nine times between 2021 and 2023 and the violence appeared to be escalating, according to documents tended to court.
Pledger has been charged with four assault charges over the alleged attack in March.
The documents reveal the woman called triple zero at about 1.30am, after suspecting Pledger of having a mental health episode.
Former Home and Away actor Orpheus Pledger.Credit: Victoria Police
While on the phone to police the woman said, “he’s coming”, before the phone disconnected.
Police arrived at the home about 20 minutes later to find the woman on the floor in pain, court documents reveal. She told them Pledger had fled before they arrived.
According to court documents, detectives obtained video footage of the March 25 incident after finding a motion-activated camera screwed into a light fixture in the woman’s lounge room. The woman told police the device belonged to Pledger, but she had been unaware it contained a camera.
The documents say she suffered injuries including possible strangulation as a result of the alleged attack.
Pledger was a child actor on The Secret Life of Us and played Noah Parkin on Neighbours in 2011, before starring as aspiring doctor Mason Morgan on Home and Away from 2016 to 2019. His most recent television appearance was in 2022 on reality TV show SAS Australia, on which concerns were raised over his “erratic behaviour”.
He voluntarily left SAS Australia early in the series after being called on to discuss his lack of engagement. When asked how he was handling the show’s training program, which is designed to reflect Special Air Service selection, Pledger surprised the show’s hosts by quitting.
“I want to go home,” he replied. Pledger’s former manager has previously told this masthead the actor was suffering serious mental health issues.
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