In 2018, Orpheus Pledger was well on his way to stardom and success.
Then 25, the Home and Away star had a main role in the series and was named a finalist in Cosmopolitan magazine’s Bachelor of the Year competition.
On screen, Pledger’s character Mason Morgan was hailed a hero for providing critical assistance to friends from Summer Bay who were injured in a desert plane crash.
Life then imitated art, when Pledger sprung into action to save a woman being attacked by a man on a Sydney street.
He was featured on the front page of a News Corp tabloid and described as “incredibly inspiring” on Channel Seven’s breakfast show, Sunrise.
“I made sure he got off her,” he told hosts David Koch and Samantha Armytage.
“I did what I hope most people would do in that situation.
“As a human being I feel like I’ve got a duty to take care of myself and those around me.”
Six years on, the tables have turned.
Pledger no longer has an acting gig and is now a convicted criminal who faces the looming prospect of jail for repeatedly bashing a woman.
On Friday, a magistrate sentenced him to seven months behind bars for two drug-fuelled attacks against the victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.
During the incidents in March this year, Pledger knocked the woman to the ground and kicked her in the face.
Pledger’s footprint left a mark on the side of the woman’s face, and she also suffered neck and head injuries.
After being arrested, the actor became the focus of a three-day police manhunt after he left a Melbourne hospital without getting mental health treatment and went on the run.
Pledger was located and spent three months in custody, before being released on bail to live with his father near the Victoria/NSW border.
Drug-affected state ‘no excuse’
While his lawyers argued Pledger had already spent enough time in jail, Magistrate Justin Foster disagreed.
The magistrate said it was “difficult to reconcile” what Pledger had previously instructed his lawyer to say in court, and what later emerged in psychological reports.
In July, Pledger’s lawyer Jasper MacCuspie said his client’s drug use began because he was devastated by missing out on a role in the American TV show, The 100.
The magistrate said that was untrue, with a report revealing his drug problem had started years earlier.
“Missing out on the TV series had no impact upon you,” Magistrate Foster said.
Pledger also claimed in court that he was remorseful for his actions, but had blamed the victim for what happened when interviewed for a psychological assessment.
The judge didn’t mince his words while sentencing Pledger on Friday, saying society was “completely fed up” with male violence against women.
“Your drug-affected state on the night in question provides an explanation for your offending, but is certainly no excuse,” he said.
Pledger’s stint behind bars lasted just three hours as he was again freed on bail while he appeals the severity of his sentence.
The bright lights, cameras and reporters’ microphones appeared to be the last thing Pledger wanted to see as he left court, supported by his father.
The appeal will be heard in the County Court in mid-November.