Former Home and Away star Orpheus Pledger faces sentencing delay

 The actor is currently on bail and living with his father.

Former Home and Away actor Orpheus Pledger's sentencing has been delayed and he has been granted release on bail.

The actor, who played Mason Morgan on the soap from 2016 to 2019, previously pleaded guilty to committing a violent assault on a woman in March. It left her "with bruises on her head and hand, lacerations on her face and signs of strangulation", ABC News reported, and in need of hospital treatment.

Pledger had previously been arrested for drug possession in 2021, and the drug methylamphetamine was stated to have played a role in the attack.

He was due to be sentenced today (July 3), but Australian outlet The Age reports that it will take six weeks to file out a pre-sentencing report due to Pledger's complex needs.

The actor's defence lawyer, Jasper MacCuspie, previously told the court that his mental health has been on the decline for years, and that he had been unable to get support due to issues with the health system.

Now, MacCuspie has stated that Pledger's mental health has stabilised to the point where the staff at a Correctional Centre found that he did not need involuntary treatment.

The lawyer requested that Pledger live at home with his father for 90 days. While the police objected, magistrate Justin Foster agreed, on the conditions that he complies with a daily curfew from 11pm to 6am and reports to the police once a week.

Foster said: "I can't have him locked up forever. I do propose to grant bail...

"There are obviously punitive and rehabilitative elements to any sentencing exercise. This is part of … that integration."

When his sentencing does take place, it has been reported that he will face up to six months in prison.