A former Home and Away actor has escaped police custody and is on the run, according to reports.
Orpheus Pledger, 30, had been arrested on assault charges and was being escorted from jail to the Royal Melbourne Hospital on Tuesday. He was being taken to hospital for a mental health assessment. The TV star has been held in pre-trial detention since March 27 after he allegedly stomped on a woman's head.
Pledger was to undergo involuntary inpatient mental health care on Monday, after a magistrate agreed. A court heard how the actor fled the hospital and breached his bail conditions after he allegedly got up and walked out after waiting six hours for his appointment. He had been arrested on assault charges after an attack was caught on camera.
Footage allegedly showed Pledger forcing a woman to the ground before stomping on her head. She allegedly suffered a number of severe injuries, including haematomas to her forehead, cuts to her cheek and bruising to her neck, back of the hand and cheek. He was arrested by Victoria Police on March 25. Pledger was held for several weeks before his lawyer Matthew MacCuspie argued his mental health was at risk due to detention, the Sun reports.
Orpheus Pledger was arrested on assault charges (WireImage)
A warrant for his arrest has been issued (Instagram)An order for patient assessment was granted and Pledger waited six hours for his appointment at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. He was with a police escort before vanishing at 6:10pm on Monday. It is not yet understood how Pledger managed to escape. His bail application was delayed until Tuesday, when he was expected to appear via video link. He could not be contacted and a warrant for his arrest has now been issued.
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Magistrate Justin Foster has said he would not grant a similar order again. He said he "bent over backwards to try and offer some mental health treatment as they require". On Tuesday, Magistrate Foster told the court: "This makes me query if I will ever grant this order again." He added that he was outraged a suspected mentally ill patient had been left untreated and unattended for almost six hours.
Pledger shot to fame as a child actor when he appeared on the kid's series Silversun as Tycho Everson when he was just eight-years-old. He went on to join Australian soap Neighbours as Noah Parkin in 2011. The actor played Mason Morgan on Home and Away for 339 episodes before choosing to leave the show in 2019. His character was killed off in the season finale that November. Pledger returned to TV screens when he appeared on season three of SAS Australia. However, he voluntarily withdrew his spot after just two days on the programme following a psychological evaluation with Ant Middleton and Doctor Dan to discuss his “erratic behaviour”.
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