Former TV personality Andrew O’Keefe has avoided a criminal conviction after he was caught driving while his license had been suspended.
The former Deal or No Deal presenter pleaded guilty to a single charge of driving with a suspended licence at Downing Centre Crown Court on Tuesday.
Police arrested the 52-year-old man after a routine traffic stop on Victoria Rd in the exclusive Sydney suburb of Bellevue Hill at around 1.30pm on June 20.
O’Keefe represented himself in court and told Judge Michael Allen that he was on his way to pick up his driver’s license when he was pulled over by police that afternoon.
O’Keefe told the court his driver’s license had been suspended because he had not completed driver education, even though he had completed it on the day he was stopped.
Judge Allen admitted it was a ‘lesser offence’ but told O’Keefe he was ‘not unfamiliar with this place in recent times, although they were more serious offences’.
“It is serious that you were on parole at the time of this lesser offence and that is a factor I have to take into account,” he said.
Judge Allen did not convict O’Keefe of the offense, but instead sentenced him to 12 months’ probation, a form of parole.
Andrew O’Keefe pleaded guilty to driving on a suspended license in June. Photo: NewsWire/John Appleyard
Andrew O’Keefe leaves Downing Centre Court after being sentenced to 12 months conditional discharge after pleading guilty to driving while licence suspended. Photo: NewsWire/John Appleyard
When asked outside court if he hoped his life would get better “from here,” O’Keefe told media he “hoped so” before noting he would be back in court the next day.
The former Weekend Sunrise presenter is facing charges of driving while banned and harassment following an unrelated incident last month.
O’Keefe has not yet entered a plea but will appear in court again on August 28 to hear what happened to him after he appealed a series of domestic violence and drug-related offences.