Former Home and Away actor Orpheus Pledger successfully appealed prison sentence for assault

Although family members in the courtroom were visibly relieved, they did not react as the new sentence was announced.

Pledger was arrested on March 26 after assaulting a woman twice in her own home.

The second attack was partially captured by a motion-activated cameraPledger grabs the woman by her hair, drags her to the ground and hits her head on the ground.

He was found still on the ground by police 15 minutes later and taken to hospital.

Led police on three-day manhunt After escaping from hospital the following month after being released on bail pending a medical assessment due to a backlog in custody.

Nurses at the hospital described him as “pretty loud” and were heard muttering that he was “going to kill”.

Pledger pleaded guilty to charges including recklessly causing injury and unlawful assault and was sentenced to seven months in prison followed by a 12-month community corrections order.

But after re-hearing the evidence on appeal, Judge Michael Tinney deemed Pledger’s 97 days in jail as time he had already spent in prison and found that a “much longer and harsher” community corrections order would meet sentencing objectives.

He told Pledger that the violence displayed in the video was condemned “in the strongest terms” but clearly occurred in an environment where his mental health was impaired.

“It’s disturbing, it’s serious, and it’s pretty incredible that you would act this way,” he said.

“It’s you, you’re not the actor, it’s you who did this to your victim.”

Pledger nodded as Judge Tinney considered a link between drug use and deteriorating mental health.

“It appears that you have been drifting for the last few years… this is consistent with drug use,” the judge said.

Judge Tinney said the most recent report from Pledger’s bail monitors noted many concerning issues.

The report stated that Pledger had missed several appointments in the past month and exhibited behavioral changes such as being overly talkative, talking off-topic, grandiosity and enthusiasm, and that he had self-adjusted his medications.

The court was told he denied he had started using drugs again but was not tested.

Judge Tinney said the forensic psychologist had determined that Pledger was at high risk of re-offending if he started using drugs again, and said he was “deeply disturbed” by this development.

“His relevant functioning had deteriorated to an extent that could be described as alarming,” he said.

“I don’t know if you used illegal drugs or not, but I do know there was significant deterioration leading up to this case.”

Pledger started acting in commercials and children’s TV series at the age of 9. You are silver before reaching a point neighbors In 2011.

He later took on the role of Mason Morgan. Home and Away Appeared as a contestant from 2016 to 2019 and most recently SAS Australia In 2022.

Judge Tinney urged Pledger to take advantage of the chance he has been given to move on with his life, but warned that any breach of the corrections order could lead to a return to prison.

Pledger, wearing a baseball cap and face mask, declined to comment as he quickly left the field.

Earlier, his lawyer, Jasper MacCuspie, said Pledger “felt terrible” about what happened and the impact the attack had on the woman.