Disgraced Home and Away star Orpheus Pledger has pleaded guilty to beating a woman after the brutal attack was caught on CCTV. The actor, 31, who played Mason Morgan on the hit Australian soap, was seen dragging a woman by her hair before he then escalated the attack by stomping on her head. Orpheus was bailed on April 22 on the sole condition that he underwent a court ordered a mental health check. But the TV star, who played the character between 2016 and 2019, escaped a hospital which sparked a huge manhunt across Australia in April. Police were forced to issue a warrant for his arrest before he was found and arrested three days later. At the time of the attack, Orpheus was first arrested after police were called to a home in Melbourne in the early hours of the morning. CCTV footage, showed the TV star following a woman outside before dragging her by only her hair, backwards. He was then seen pushing her to the ground, raising his foot and stomping on her. According to news.com.au, the victim was left with bruises on her head and face. Police arrived at the scene at 1.35am after an emergency call to them abruptly ended. Officers reportedly said they heard the words “he’s coming”, before the call was disconnected. The Home and Away actor was arrested later that day and had been in pre-sentence custody since then. He has now pleaded guilty to the assault. His lawyer Jasper MacCuspie says the former soap star’s life had spiralled into a pit of mental health and drug issues prior to the attack, after he was pipped to the post for a role in the US drama The 100. His lawyer claimed Orpheus started to use Meth in his mid to late 20’s but it never developed into an addiction. However, following his rejection by casting directors of the US drama, his drug use worsened. The lawyer also said that the star’s 94-day pre-sentence order was “sufficient” for punishment and a community corrections order would be more suitable. However the prosecution argued that the “nature and gravity of the offending…is a serious incident.” But it was decided that a community protection order was appropriate. Magistrate Justin Foster said Orpheus needed to be assessed for a community corrections order before sentencing. He said: “At the moment the court doesn’t know if it’s a mental health or drug issue.” The judge said the case was adjourned for sentencing until July 3rd. Orpheus shot to fame as a child actor when appeared on the series Silversun as Tycho Everson when he was only eight-years-old. He went on to join Neighbours as Noah Parkin in 2011, and most recently he starred as Mason Morgan on Home and Away for 339 episodes before leaving the show in 2019. His character was killed off in November of that year. He then appeared on SAS Australia.
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