By Clare Sibthorpe
Troubled former TV star Andrew O’Keefe has said his three children are the most important thing in his life, and he realised he can’t be there for them unless he beats his drug addiction.
Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge told the 52-year-old he has to love his children more than the lifestyle he has been living as she prepared to send him to a rehabilitation centre during his sentencing at Waverley Local Court.
Andrew O’Keefe has faced court again.Credit: Steven Siewert
The 52-year-old almost lost his life last month when he overdosed on heroin at a home in Vaucluse and was revived by paramedics.
Two days later, he attended Rose Bay police station to meet previous bail conditions when officers found methamphetamine in his car and arrested him.
The former Channel Seven personality has been in custody since then on a drug possession charge, as well as contravening an apprehended violence order (AVO) and trespassing.
As O’Keefe faced court via audiovisual link from custody on Thursday, Milledge said she could not understand why he would potentially “throw away” his relationship with his children, who have been forced to watch his life unravel in the spotlight.
“Those kids are the dearest things in my life,” O’Keefe responded.
“They’re wonderful people, and I want to be there for them, and I understand now that there’s no drug in the world that’s going to allow that to happen if it’s in my life.”
O’Keefe agreed that his relationship with his children was strained.
Milledge told him he’s “got to love them more than the lifestyle he’s been living for whatever reason he’s living it”.
O’Keefe pleaded guilty to drug possession, breaching an AVO and entering enclosed lands relating to a visit to the Point Piper home of a woman he was legally bound not to contact.
O’Keefe said he wants to be better for his children.Credit: AAP
His legal team asked Milledge to sentence him to a community correction order with a condition to spend three months at a rehabilitation facility, to which she agreed.
Noting it would not be O’Keefe’s first stint at rehabilitation, Milledge said his life had gone “completely off the rails”.
“I’m just going to talk to you the same way I talk to anyone in the grip of addiction,” she said.
“The only person who is going to make your life any different is you … I’ve read the sadness you’ve had in your life. Sadly, that’s life.”
Referring to her own personal experiences of people asking what it was like to have O’Keefe in her court, she said they did not call him a monster.
“I know domestic violence is a factor in your offending, and that is absolutely awful, particularly with the position you came from in being a White Ribbon ambassador,” she said.
“I truly believe you believed it, and then you got into the grips of something awful, and the wheels fell off … the unsolicited feedback is that you’re not a monster, they say ‘isn’t that a shame’.”
Ordinary people had “invested their feelings” in O’Keefe because they felt like they knew him due to his celebrity status, Milledge added.
“These people want to see you succeed, so if there’s anything you can do about the DV issue and the drugs because they’re a scourge in the community, and if there is anybody who can say ‘look at where I came from and look at where I’m at,’ it’s you,” she said.
“I’m personally disappointed to see you where you’re at”.
Prosecutor Robert Breckenridge noted O’Keefe’s apology letter to the court did not acknowledge the impact on the person protected by the AVO he breached.
“I accept he’s had extremely bad experiences with drugs in recent times, which is a significant motivator to get one’s life straightened out,” Breckenridge told the court.
“But I would have thought he’d also had insight to say ‘it’s not just hurting me, it’s hurting other people’.”
For the breach of the AVO, Milledge sentenced O’Keefe to a 30-month community correction order and ordered him to attend a rehabilitation clinic.
She fined him $1000 for drug possession and $500 for trespassing.
Milledge also sentenced O’Keefe for a separate charge of driving under the influence of drugs, fining him $2000 and suspending his licence for three months.
“If you breach this bond you and I will meet again, and the next step will be jail - and I absolutely mean that,” she said.
“The court will think you just can’t be rehabilitated”.
Last month, Milledge said the former Deal or No Deal host was lucky to be alive following his overdose.
O’Keefe’s contract with the Seven Network expired in late 2020.
In August, he lost an appeal against domestic violence convictions.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).