After being found in possession of cocaine, former Home and Away star Orpheus Pledger was given a six-month good behavior order.
According to Perthnow, Pledger failed to appear before the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday (November 16) for the hearing in which he was sentenced to a diversion program, which will keep him out of jail.
On February 19, the former soap star, 28, was accused of having half a gram of Methylamphetamine, better known as ‘ICE,’ in Prahran.
He was also charged with possessing 30 tablets of Diazepam, commonly known as Valium, without a prescription.
According to the source, Pledger admitted responsibility for the accusations but did not enter a plea as part of the program, which allows low-level offenders to avoid a criminal record.
Magistrate Tim Bourke also ordered Pledger to pay $150 to the court and complete a drug awareness course in addition to the good behavior order.
Pledger was previously placed on a diversion program in 2015, according to his lawyer, Carmela Pezzimenti, but the facts of those claims were not mentioned in court.
She said Pledger was only 21 at the time, was unrepresented and there was a “great deal of confusion” around it, and records of the offense were no longer available.
Mason Morgan, Pledger’s character on Home and Away, was killed off in 2019 after Pledger opted to leave the show. Morgan was shot by a gang after sieging the hospital where he worked in his final appearances.
He’s been composing music while in lockdown since leaving the soap, according to the Daily Mail Australia: “There will be singing, but I’ve been concentrating on producing music. All of music’s great eras have inspired me over the years.”