Andrew O’Keefe returns to court for another legal battle

Andrew O’Keefe will appear in court yet again on Thursday after he was allegedly caught driving with an illicit drug in his system in Darlinghurst earlier this year.

Andrew O’Keefe will appear in a Sydney court on Thursday in the latest legal battle for the troubled former TV host after he is alleged to have driven with an illicit drug in his system.

O’Keefe is scheduled to appear before Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday morning on fresh charges.

The 52-year-old was in August charged with one count of driving with an illicit drug present in his blood at Darlinghurst, in inner Sydney, on April 14.

He was not charged until August 12 and the matter is scheduled to be mentioned in court for the first time on Thursday.

It comes just over a week after the former Deal or No Deal and The Chase host was told by a magistrate he was “lucky to be alive” following a drug overdose.

Andrew O’Keefe will appear in court on Thursday charged with allegedly driving with drugs in his system. Picture: NewsWire/Max Mason-Hubers.

He came before the courts on Tuesday last week over separate charges of drug possession and breaching his bail conditions.

Two days prior to that he was hospitalised following a heroin overdose.

Emergency services raced to his Old South Head Road home in the early morning responding to a concerns-for-welfare call.

He was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital where he was treated and later released.

Police launched an investigation and O’Keefe was last Monday arrested at Rose Bay Police Station.

Police have further alleged that during the search of a nearby vehicle they discovered prohibited drugs, which were sent away for further analysis.

Andrew O’Keefe nearly died in a drug overdose earlier this month. Picture: NewsWire/Max Mason-Hubers.

According to court documents, O’Keefe is alleged to have been in possession of crystal methamphetamine.

He was charged with breach of bail and possessing a prohibited drug before being refused bail.

He has been in custody on remand since his arrest and is due to return to court in October.

He is alleged to have breached his bail relating to charges of intimidation, entering enclosed lands without permission and breaching an AVO.

Those charges relate to allegations he threatened a man at a Point Piper address on July 28.

In August, he pleaded not guilty to those charges at Waverley Local Court.

Andrew O’Keefe has been in and out of the courtroom this year. Picture: NewsWire/Gaye Gerard.

Two weeks ago, O’Keefe failed in his bid to overturn domestic violence convictions.

The former Channel 7 star and one-time domestic violence prevention ambassador was previously found guilty and sentenced to a 12-month and three 18-month community corrections orders after a magistrate found he had inflicted a “frightening and degrading” attack on a woman.

On September 9, District Court Judge John Pickering dismissed his appeal against two convictions for domestic violence-related assaults and one contravention of an apprehended violence order.

The former host of The Chase also successfully appealed his conviction for possessing an illegal drug mephedrone, known as “meow meow”.