He used to be a prominent face on Aussie television, known for his charismatic on-air persona.
But Andrew O’Keefe has faced a different kind of spotlight since domestic assault allegations came to light in 2021 following a long career with Channel 7.
This week the 52-year-old former lawyer faced a hearing in Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court on charges of common assault, contravening an AVO, resisting a police officer, possess prohibited drug and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
He has since pleaded guilty to the AVO breach but denies the other charges.
The alleged offending begins with a domestic violence incident at a Sydney apartment in September 2021, his arrest two days later and drugs found at his property the following January.
‘I SAW HER DRAW BLOOD”
The domestic assault charges relate to an incident at a woman’s house in September 2021.
O’Keefe told the court he was staying at the woman’s house due to being a close contact of a Covid-infected person at the time.
An argument broke out between O’Keefe and the woman, who O’Keefe said walked up to him in what he told the court was a “restrained fury” and claimed he called her child a c**t.
As he was leaving, the 52-year old told the court the woman was “agitated” and noticed her hand was around her wrist with her nails digging into her skin.
He told the court: “I saw her draw blood.”
O’Keefe told the court he was “taken aback” by the confrontation and had never called the woman’s child a c**t.
During cross-examination by police prosecutor Michael Cleaver, O’Keefe admitted he said to the woman the child was a “manipulative piece of sh*t”.
He told the court the woman told him to leave, called him a liar and threatened to call the police.
O’Keefe responded: “You think I’m a liar, I think you’re a mad dog.”
As he was trying to collect his belongings, O’Keefe told the court the woman was following him around and he had to “push past her”.
“I was determined to get into the bathroom, so I grabbed her by the shoulders – it wasn’t a firm grab at all, it was for the purposes of getting her to the side,” O’Keefe told the court.
After retrieving his medication from the bathroom, O’Keefe told the court the woman “slapped him across the chest with the back of her hand”.
“I said to her … ‘if you’re going to call the police, great, because you’ve just assaulted me’,” O’Keefe told the court.
At one point, he said, the woman grabbed him in a “monkey-style grip” with her arms and he continued to walk, carrying her entire body weight.
O’Keefe said something tripped them up and both he and the woman fell, with his weight on top of her.
The former television presenter told the court that he got up and found the rest of his belongings before ensuring the woman was all right, said goodbye and headed to the door.
A CONCERNED NEIGHBOUR
Neighbour Nicole Taylor was in her apartment when she heard a “scuffle” in the apartment below hers.
“The floorboards were pretty unforgiving … it escalated to the sound of a scuffle almost,” Ms Taylor told the court in February.
“There was loud noises and yelling … the level of noise where you realise something was wrong.”
Ms Taylor told the court that she could tell O’Keefe was “aggressive and angry”, while the alleged victim was attempting to “calm him down”.
Moments later she went downstairs to make sure the woman was all right when she noticed “scratches” all over her chest.
“It was the first thing I saw, she was really shaken … her voice, her body, she was in a lot of shock and fear at that stage,” Ms Taylor said.
“She had scratches up her arms and marks on her chest … she was limping and I asked her what had happened.”
The court was told that the alleged victim told her neighbour that O’Keefe had kicked and spat on her.
‘I THOUGHT I WAS HAVING A HEART ATTACK’
In the days leading up to the incident, the court was told O’Keefe was in bed a lot due to an illness.
After the argument, he left the apartment but didn’t make it far due to his phone being out of battery.
O’Keefe told the court that he knocked on the door and was ignored by the woman, who later answered and said she would get his phone charger, leaving him waiting for another 10 minutes.
At this point, O’Keefe went to the back of the complex and reached through the back window to get his phone charger from the kitchen.
By the time he made it back up the stairs, O’Keefe said he was exhausted.
“I thought I was having a heart attack,” he told the court.
“By now my chest was very, very constricted, I was drenched in sweat, I was dizzy, I sat for a little while longer.”
He said he felt “claustrophobic” and crawled on his “hands and knees” down the stairs and out of the building.
POLICE COMPLAINT
Police found him about 30 minutes later and told him they had received a complaint from the woman.
O’Keefe told the court that he asked the officers whether he could make a statement himself, but they “sort of laughed” at him and said “why would you do that?”.
Earlier this year, footage was played before magistrate Alison Viney that showed O’Keefe sprawled out, complaining of chest pain.
In the video, O’Keefe is heard groaning and complaining of having something “chesty”.
“I’m not sure (what it is) … I’ve never felt it before,” he told police.
When police approach O’Keefe in the footage to ask questions, he is seen shutting them down.
“I will not make any comments without a lawyer present … they are making claims against me which are false,” he told police.
He was taken to hospital for the night where he was diagnosed with a respiratory tract infection.
THE DRAMATIC ARREST
O’Keefe is accused of resisting an arrest two days after the alleged domestic assault.
Multiple angles of bodycam footage captured by police during the arrest was played to the court, showing the moment police knock on O’Keefe’s door at his CBD apartment to tell him he is being arrested for domestic assault and breaching an apprehended violence order.
Before leaving with police, O’Keefe asked to get his medication but he was refused.
“I will take my medication that is essential … this happened last time and you guys did not take my medication,” he said in the footage.
O’Keefe begins to raise his voice as officers take hold of his arms as he yells: “This is what happens, I don’t have my medication and get mad.”
He continued to scream: “This is a simple favour, this is a very simple request, why are you being such f**king Nazis about it?”
The officers took O’Keefe into the hallway before pushing him against a wall and putting him into handcuffs.
“I need my medication, you’re not going through my f**king stuff … you don’t even know where it is you idiots,” O’Keefe yells in the footage.
He is then asked to calm down but O’Keefe continues to scream, saying he was being arrested in a “f**king unnecessary fashion” as he is led to the elevator and out of the building.
He is put into the police van and told to stop moving.
“I keep moving? It’s f**king hard not to move when you’re a human being … This is a justifiable and righteous rage to the way I am being treated,” he says in the video.
MEOW-MEOW
Police executed a search warrant at O’Keefe’s apartment in January 2022, four months after his arrest.
During this search, the court was told police found a bag of synthetic methamphetamine in a lockbox in his kitchen and he was subsequently charged with possess prohibited drug.
Family friend of O’Keefe’s for 45 years, Daniel Mocsari, told the court that when he found out about the charge days before the hearing, he quickly felt the need to confess.
“It was my stuff, not his,” Mr Mocsari told the court.
Mr Mocsari is referring to meow-meow, a synthetic stimulant drug consisting of mephedrone or 4-methylmethcathinone, which he described as “an analog of methamphetamine”.
He told the court that he had gone to O’Keefe’s apartment in December 2021 for “pre-Christmas drinks” and had taken the bag of drugs.
“I told him (O’Keefe) I got this stuff …(O’Keefe) had a sniff and told me he wouldn’t partake as the analogs have poor side effects with prescription medication,” Mr Mocsari said.
“He politely declined and gave it back.”
Mr Mocsari said he left the bag on the kitchen counter, but it wasn’t there when he left the party.
Under questioning by Sergeant Cleaver, Mr Mocsari was asked why he left a “$350 bag” of drugs behind at a party.
Mr Mocsari said: “I wasn’t that fussed.”
Sergeant Cleaver suggested he had come to court to give false evidence to protect his friend, O’Keefe.
“Absolutely not,” Mr Mocsari said.
“I’ve just come out of custody, I don’t want to have another drug charge … I have a moral compass.”
A LOOMING DECISION
After four full days of evidence, Ms Viney will now take the next few months to come to a decision.
She asked both the prosecution and defence to submit written submissions on what all the evidence proved and told the parties she planned to deliver her judgment in late January.