Magistrate issues blunt reality check for Andrew O’Keefe

Andrew O’Keefe is “lucky to be alive” and has been told prison may be the best place for him “if he wants to stay alive”. The former TV star has been given a stern reprimand by a magistrate.

The former TV personality was back in court on Tuesday after being charged with drug possession and breaching his bail conditions, two days after he was hospitalised following a heroin overdose.

“I shake my head,” Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge said as O’Keefe’s case was heard at Waverley Crown Court.

The former Deal or No Deal presenter was treated by police and paramedics and admitted to hospital in his unit in Vaucluse early on Saturday morning after taking an overdose.

Emergency services rushed to the home on Old South Head Rd at around 3.40am after reports of a situation where people were concerned for their welfare.

The 52-year-old man was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital, where he was treated and later released.

“He is lucky to be alive,” Ms. Milledge said Tuesday morning as she read the court documents.

Police launched an investigation and O’Keefe was arrested at Rose Bay police station on Monday afternoon.

Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge (pictured) described his case as ‘absolutely tragic’ and ‘absolutely sad’

Police further allege that during a search of a nearby vehicle, they found illegal drugs, which were sent for further investigation.

According to court documents, O’Keefe was allegedly in possession of crystal meth.

He was charged with breaching bail conditions and possessing a prohibited drug, but was refused bail to appear in Waverley District Court on Tuesday.

O’Keefe was not in court and his attorney did not file a bail application Tuesday, meaning he remains in custody.

“If he wants to stay alive, that’s the best thing he can do,” Milledge said.

The court was told he may apply for bail so he can be released to a rehabilitation centre when he appears in court again on October 10.

But Ms Milledge noted that “he’s done all that” and described his case as “absolutely tragic” and “absolutely sad”.

“He walks through that door, he flies through it a lot, he’s so used to it,” Ms. Milledge said, noting that he had appeared in court several times, filed motions to have the charges dismissed on mental health grounds and been released to a rehabilitation center.

She said they had “all been tried and tested, but they had failed.”

“God help him, and it’s a pity he doesn’t have a revelation,” said Mrs. Milledge.

He is alleged to have breached his bail after being charged with threatening a man at an address in Point Piper, shortly before being pulled over while driving and found in possession of a crack pipe.

In August he pleaded not guilty at Waverley Crown Court to harassment, entering enclosed areas without permission and breaching an AVO.

These cases will be heard on October 10 alongside the new bail jumping and drug charges.

He appeared at Waverley Crown Court on Tuesday. Photo: NewsWire/Gaye Gerard

The overdose came just six days after O’Keefe had a drug possession conviction quashed but failed to quash a domestic violence conviction in Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court last week.

The former Channel 7 star and former ambassador for domestic abuse prevention was found guilty in January and sentenced to 12 months in prison and three 18-month community service orders after a magistrate ruled he carried out a “terrifying and degrading” attack on a woman.

Last Monday, Judge John Pickering dismissed his appeal after arguing that the victim had lied.

The former Chase presenter also successfully appealed against his conviction for possession of the illegal drug mephedrone, also known as ‘meow meow’.

Judge Pickering ruled there was reasonable doubt as to whether O’Keefe knew the drugs were being stored in his apartment.

He granted the appeal and overturned the drug possession conviction.