2 weeks Ago By Duncan Murray
Troubled TV star Andrew O'Keefe is expected to enter drug rehab in a desperate attempt to turn his life around after being arrested and charged following a near-fatal heroin overdose. or signup to continue reading The 53-year-old's lawyers told Waverley Local Court on Thursday that he intends to enter pleas of guilty to a drug possession charge as well as separate charges of trespassing and breaching a court order relating to an incident in July. Prosecutors have agreed to withdraw an additional charge of intimidation on condition of the pleas, the court was told.
O'Keefe appeared in court via a video link from jail. Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge agreed with a submission by his lawyers that he enter a three-month rehabilitation program, adding it should happen as soon as possible. "Your life has just completely gone off the rails," she told O'Keefe.
"The only person that's going to make your life any different is going to be you." In a candid appeal to the former TV star, Ms Milledge said the general public saw the "pathos" in his situation and wanted him to succeed. "Nobody says 'isn't he a monster'," she said.
"Everybody says 'isn't that a shame'." Ms Milledge noted domestic violence had been an element of O'Keefe's offending, which she described as particularly awful given his previous role as an ambassador for advocacy group White Ribbon. "I truly believe that in those days you believed it," she said.
O'Keefe's lawyer Jahan Kalantar said his client was at a crossroads, where one path led to institutionalised behaviour and the other to getting his life back together. "The option, we say, is a real chance for this man to get his life in order," he said. The former game show host had his bail revoked in September, days after experiencing a reported overdose.
Emergency services responded to an incident at a home in Sydney's eastern suburbs after which police searched a nearby car and found methamphetamine in his possession. The ex-TV star had been on bail at the time after allegedly breaching an AVO, trespassing and intimidating a man in Sydney's eastern suburbs in July. O'Keefe was a Seven presenter for more than 15 years, most notably hosting game show Deal or No Deal and breakfast program Weekend Sunrise.
He was convicted of domestic violence offences in January and had an appeal dismissed earlier in September. An appeal against other drug possession charges was upheld and the conviction quashed. The court is due to sentence O'Keefe later on Thursday.
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