Former Home and Away star Orpheus Pledger has been released on strict bail conditions just days after admitting the brutal assault of a woman.
Pledger appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court in a grey prison uniform for the second time on Wednesday as his lawyer applied for bail.
He walked free from court on Wednesday afternoon after a magistrate ruled he could spend the next six weeks living at the home of his jazz musician father.
Dressed in a grey tracksuit and carrying documents, Pledger was greeted by a large group of television cameras but refused to answer questions as a supporter pushed him into a nearby car.
He kept his head down as he got into a white Nissan X-Trail while the driver honked his horn repeatedly at photographers.
The former TV star was expected to be sentenced by Magistrate Justin Foster.
On Wednesday he adjourned the matter for six weeks, which would have left Pledger behind bars for an “extensive” assessment by the CCO.
Pledger’s lawyer, Jasper MacCuspie, argued that the assessment was not necessary as the Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health (Forensicare) advised he no longer met the requirements for involuntary treatment in custody.
Orpheus Pledger is seen leaving Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday night after being released on bail.
The former soap opera star will spend the next six weeks living with her jazz musician father.
Magistrate Foster granted Pledger’s release on condition he reside at his father’s home in Wahgunyah, on the north-west border of Victoria and New South Wales.
He also ordered Pledger to report to police once a week in Cowra, just over the border, and be placed under a curfew between 11pm and 6am.
His successful bid for release comes after just 96 days in pretrial detention, punctuated by a three-day manhunt launched after he fled a hospital while complying with a one-day bail agreement.
The former soap star pleaded guilty on Monday to a number of charges relating to a savage attack on a woman at a Melbourne home in the early hours of March 25.
The brutal assault was captured on a motion-activated camera owned by Pledger, which showed him grabbing the victim’s hair and throwing her to the ground before stomping on her head.
Pledger nodded from the dock as Mr MacCuspie conveyed his intentions to abide by the proposed bail conditions and take advantage of available support while he is free.
He then stared at the magistrate as he weighed up the potential risks to the community after a series of missteps following the brutal attack.
Former Home and Away star turned thug Orpheus Pledger (pictured) is to be released from custody after being granted bail for the brutal assault of a woman in April.
The brutal attack was caught on a motion-activated camera (pictured) which showed Pledger pulling the victim’s hair, throwing her to the ground and stomping on her head.
The victim called Triple Zero to warn police that Pledger was in the midst of a mental health incident on the fateful night, the court previously heard.
She was heard saying “she’s coming” before the line went dead.
Police arrived 15 minutes later and found the woman lying on the ground while Pledger was nowhere to be seen.
Images of the woman’s injuries in the attack show bruises on the side of her face that bore a “similar resemblance” to the pattern on the sole of the Vans sneakers he owned.
He was arrested two days later and remanded in custody until April 15, when he was released on one-day bail to undergo a mental health evaluation at Northern Hospital.
Pledger fled the hospital after telling staff he would “kill” the victim multiple times, sparking a manhunt that lasted three days before he was arrested a second time.
The court heard that when a family member told him he needed to be taken back into custody, Pledger replied: “Why? I haven’t done anything wrong.”
Magistrate Foster was furious when told Pledger had escaped from hospital and said he had “gone to great lengths” to get the bail condition approved.
Pledger pleaded guilty on Monday to a number of charges related to the attack but will be released to stay at his father’s residence in Victoria’s far northwest.
The court heard Pledger had rekindled a relationship with his father while on remand, having previously lost contact with him as a child.
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 completed.
Judge Foster also expressed concern about bail being granted without a finding on whether Pledger’s offences were “drug-induced or (due to) a mental health issue”.
However, the Forensicare report said Pledger had moved past the previous stage after being arrested for the second time and was showing signs of an improved mental state.
Mr MacCuspie told the court he had been transferred from involuntary treatment to the general population without incident.
“He hasn’t enjoyed much of his time in custody… but he appears to have stabilised and seems to be doing better,” he said.
The lawyer said his client “accepts he should have returned to court” when he jumped bail in April, adding: “The position he finds himself in today is different to before.”
The report followed a letter from Corrections Victoria to Judge Foster requesting that Pledger be remanded in custody for six weeks for an “extensive” CCO assessment.
Corrections argued that his “complex needs” required more than a day to assess whether he was fit to be released to the public.
Mr MacCuspie said extending Mr Pledger’s time behind bars would be “detrimental to Mr Pledger” and “is not appropriate in these circumstances”.
“He is appearing before the court with a very small criminal record and this is the first time he has been accused of something of this gravity,” he said.
The court heard on Monday that Pledger (left) had fallen into a downward spiral of drug use including methamphetamine after his soap opera character was killed off and he lost a role on a US television show.
The court heard on Monday that Pledger had a successful acting career that peaked with 339 episodes on the popular soap opera Home and Away.
But he suffered a devastating blow to his career when a role on an American television show fell through at the last minute, sending the actor into a downward spiral.
Pledger began associating with an “anti-social” group and taking methamphetamine recreationally, which he admitted in court was affecting him at the time of the attack.
“(Pledger) has admitted to having drug problems and perhaps some underlying mental health issues,” MacCuspie told the court.
He said such issues are common in cases heard in a magistrates’ court and questioned how Pledger is “more complex” than others authorized for a CCO.
The court heard on Monday that Pledger had rekindled a relationship with his father while in custody after losing contact as a child.
Mr MacCuspie conveyed his client’s intentions to learn to play music from his musician father while living “as far away from the victim as possible”.
He is due back in court on August 16.
