EXCLUSIVE
Former game show host Andrew O’Keefe has been arrested again on a drug driving charge, three months after being warned he was one false step away from jail.
Daily Mail can reveal O’Keefe is set to face Waverley Local Court in Sydney’s eastern suburbs later this month after being accused of driving with an illicit drug in his system for the second time.
The former Deal or No Deal host pleaded guilty in October to trespassing, breaching an an apprehended violence order and possessing a prohibited drug.
In July, O’Keefe confronted a man at a Point Piper property he was banned from attending and was later arrested after a traffic stop.
He was released on bail but arrested again at Rose Bay police station in September when police found crystal methamphetamine in his car during a search.
A day earlier O’Keefe had overdosed on heroin at a party and needed to be revived by paramedics.
During his sentencing at Waverley Local Court in October, magistrate Jacqueline Milledge assured the TV star he was looking at time behind bars he reoffended.
‘You have been given lots of opportunities to do something about your use of drugs,’ Ms Milledge told O’Keefe.
‘I can assure you the next step is jail. I’m not just saying that, I absolutely mean it.
‘It’s got to the state where the court would believe you just can’t be rehabilitated.’
Ms Milledge told 53-year-old O’Keefe that his life had ‘just completely gone off the rails’ and it was his responsibility to fix it.
‘I know domestic violence is a factor in your offending and that is awful, truly awful,’ she said.
‘You got into the grip of something awful and the wheels fell off.’
The magistrate said she remembered telling O’Keefe ‘God help you’ during a previous court appearance.
‘I am personally disappointed that you’re where you are and you haven’t managed to get yourself back on your feet,’ she said.
‘I just wish you’d get yourself back to a position where you can do something for the community again.’
Ms Milledge sentenced O’Keefe to a 30-month community corrections order in relation to the breach of the AVO, which required him to attend rehab.
He was also fined $2,000 fine and suspended from driving for three months for the drug charge.
At the time, O’Keefe’s lawyer told Ms Milledge: ‘This, Your Honour, is what we say is the final crossroads.’
O’Keefe has waged a public battle against drug addiction and been in and out of rehabilitation centres for the past few years.
He was found guilty in January of domestic violence and drug offences after a ‘degrading’ attack on a woman who cannot be named.
The drug conviction was later quashed but O’Keefe lost an appeal against the assault convictions in August.
In December 2023 he escaped conviction after pleading guilty in Downing Centre Local Court to driving through Point Piper with drugs in his system earlier that year.
O’Keefe had been pulled over while behind the wheel of a Mercedes C200 sedan in January and returned a positive test to methamphetamine.
A second oral fluid sample provided at Waverley police station tested negative but was later deemed positive after further analysis.
During sentencing, magistrate Miranda Moody said O’Keefe had since returned negative screenings for drugs and was being treated by a psychiatrist and psychologist.
‘To his credit, he’s clearly had some issues with illicit drug use and I’ve been provided material to his use of drugs or lack thereof,’ Ms Moody said.
‘There have been none detected for some time. I’ve also been provided a report by a psychologist and a psychiatrist. He’s engaged in treatment.
‘Given the enormous amount of work Mr O’Keefe is doing in relation to his drug and health issues I’m prepared to not record a conviction.’
Ms Moody sentenced O’Keefe to a 12-month community release order.
O’Keefe will face court for the first time on his latest drug-driving charge on January 20.