Former Home and Away star Orpheus Pledger has pleaded guilty to committing a violent assault on a woman in March.
The actor, who played Mason Morgan on the soap from 2016 to 2019, appeared in court via video link, as he is being held in custody after breaching the conditions of his bail in April.
ABC News reports that the court was told the woman called emergency services as she was concerned that Pledger was having mental health difficulties, before she told the operator “he’s coming” and the call cut out.
When police arrived at the address in Melbourne, they found the victim on the floor “with bruises on her head and hand, lacerations on her face and signs of strangulation”.
The woman was treated in hospital, while Pledger was arrested and released on bail, although he was later taken into custody after he left hospital while waiting for a mental health assessment.
The actor’s defence lawyer, Jasper MacCuspie, told the court that Pledger’s mental health had begun to decline after he left Home and Away and missed out on an expected role in drama series The 100.
“He was expecting to fly over for the show, but at the very last minute that role fell through,” MacCuspie said, adding that this was a “destabilising event” for Pledger.
MacCuspie added that Pledger’s use of the drug methylamphetamine had also played a role in the attack, with the actor having previously been arrested for drug possession in 2021.
Pledger is due to appear in court again on July 3 for sentencing.
Mason first arrived in Summer Bay in 2016 alongside his siblings Justin, Tori and Brody, with Mason soon revealing that the family had been relocated under a witness protection programme.
During his time in the Bay, he dated Evie MacGuire, Olivia Fraser Richards and Beth Ellis, and was involved in a car crash that left him temporarily paralysed. Mason was killed in 2019 after he was shot in a siege at the hospital.