A former television heartthrob on the run from police over assault charges allegedly stomped on a woman’s head so hard police could identify the shoes he was wearing.
Home and Away star Orpheus Pledger, 30, is accused of assaulting a woman at a home in Melbourne on March 25, in an incident allegedly caught on a motion-activated camera.
The shocking footage – released after Daily Mail Australia joined legal action to lift reporting restrictions – showed Pledger allegedly grabbing the victim’s hair and throwing her to the ground before stomping on her head.
Images of the woman’s injuries from the alleged attack show bruises on the side of her face that bore a ‘similar resemblance’ to the sole pattern of Vans sneakers he owned, police allege.
Pledger was remanded in custody after his arrest on March 27 but was bailed on Monday for a mental health assessment at Royal Melbourne Hospital.
He was required to return to court the following day but is instead alleged to have just got up and walked out, in breach of his bail conditions, and is still on the run.
Police on Wednesday appealed to the public to help locate Pledger, who is known to ‘frequent Northcote and surrounding areas.’
Police allege the disturbing footage showed Pledger’s ninth attack on the victim since 2021 and was an example of an ‘an escalation in his propensity for violence’
The alleged victim was hospitalised overnight for injuries including haematomas (a swelling of clotted blood) to her forehead, cuts to her cheek and bruising to her neck, hand and cheek.
Pledger’s alleged victim made a Triple Zero call warning police he was in the midst of a mental health incident, Melbourne Magistrates Court was told on Monday.
The alleged victim was heard saying ‘he’s coming’ before the line cut out, the court was told.
Pledger – who played Mason Morgan on Seven’s soap for 339 episodes from 2016 to 2019 – was granted bail on Monday so he could receive the mental health support that ‘experts say he needs’, his solicitor told the court
Pledger had been expected to undergo the assessment in hospital and return to court on Tuesday to have his bail conditions reassessed.
But when his case was called by Magistrate Justin Foster on Tuesday morning, he could not be found.
His solicitor, Jasper MacCuspie, told the court his client had escaped the hospital after waiting almost six hours to be seen.
Magistrate Foster fumed that he had ‘bent over backwards’ to approve the hospital visit.
‘This makes me query if I will ever grant this order again,’ he told the court on Tuesday.
He said he was also outraged that a suspected mentally-ill patient had been left untreated and unattended for almost six hours.
Pledger’s bail was revoked and a warrant for his arrest issued.
Despite previously resisting police action for the alleged prior assaults, the alleged victim told police that she ‘believes he will eventually kill her’, the court was told.
Police prosecutor Olivia Sparrow had recommended that Pledger remain in custody as he was an ‘unacceptable risk’ to the community while homeless and allegedly suffering drug and mental health issues.
Ms Sparrow also opposed an in-patient mental health assessment order made during a bail hearing last week, as staff can’t physically prevent him from leaving.
Magistrate Foster had also aired his concerns over the order as it meant Pledger could leave without being apprehended.
‘Clinically he might get on his drugs and whatever treatment he needs and show improvement. Then he can be released into the community,’ he said.
‘The risk of something further happening and having dire consequences is striking.’
