Home and Away star in police manhunt after allegedly ‘stomping on woman’s head’

One of Home and Away’s formerly biggest stars has reportedly gone on the run after allegedly attacking a woman in a nightclub.

Orpheus Pledger, 30, played lifeguard Mason Morgan on the soap from Down Under, which currently airs in the UK on Channel 5. The actor played the role in a total of 339 episodes between 2016 and 2019, before he was given the boot from the show.

Since then, Pledger has largely been out of the public eye, however, following the alleged incident that took place on March 27, he is now being sought after by police. The actor had been escorted to hospital by police for a mental health assessment ahead of the trial in relation to the case, which was set to take place on Tuesday (April 23).

Despite Orpheus’ lack of presence, the trial still went ahead. The court heard the alleged incident took place in the southern city of Melbourne, when Orpheus appeared to grab the female victim from behind and threw her to the floor.

CCTV footage from the incident allegedly showed Pledger proceeding to hit the woman several times, including stamping on her head. According to the prosecution, he had allegedly stomped on her head so hard that imprints from his Vans shoes had been bruised into her face.

Officers from Victoria Police said they received reports of an assault from the woman at 1:35am However, before she could give any details of the incident, she could be heard saying “he’s coming”, before the line went dead.

The actor was set to appear in court through a video link from a mental health assessment that had been ordered by the court. This was to help in an application for Orpheus to be given bail ahead of his trial, which would have expired at 3:30am local time.

However, while being escorted by police to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, he managed to make an escape from custody, after not being seen for almost six hours, his lawyers argued. Currently, it is not yet known how he was able to get away from the force.

Speaking at the court at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, the presiding Justin Foster said that he was infuriated that he had “bent over backwards” to grant the order so the actor could receive a mental health check. According to local media, he muttered: “I’ll never make an order like that again.”

Pledger is now the subject of a nation-wide manhunt after an arrest warrant was issued for the star. Sources close to the star said that the actor had struggled with his mental health after his character was killed off by writers in a hospital siege in 2019.

“Orpheus has been exerting this problematic behaviour for a while, since he relocated back to Melbourne after his character was killed off,” the insider claimed to the Daily Mail in Australia. He had been held in police custody since he was arrested following the attack.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk