Former TV star Andrew O’Keefe has been slapped with a fresh fine and driving ban after he was caught with drugs in his system

Former TV star Andrew O’Keefe has been slapped with a fine and banned from driving for six months after he was charged with driving with drugs in his system. Andrew O’Keefe, 53, was stopped at 11.30am on July 28 for random testing while driving his Mercedes along Cranbrook Rd in Rose Bay, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. He returned a negative result for the roadside breath test but police say he recorded a positive result for the roadside drug test. The former Deal or No Deal host was taken to Waverley Police Station, where he underwent a second oral fluid test that returned another positive reading. He was charged with driving a vehicle with an illicit drug present in his system. The former host of The Chase was represented by his lawyer Jahan Kalantar in Waverley Local Court on Friday,where he pleadedguilty to having methylamphetamine in his system while driving in July last year. His lawyer said he’d been overseas but had returned for the hearing. “He’s been away from the country and has returned today for the purposes of today’s hearing,” Mr Kalantar said. The court was told Mr O’Keefe wasn’t issued a court notice over the charges until November 2024 due to delays with laboratory analysis, which the magistrate said was “not uncommon”. “The court attendance notice wasn’t filed it seems until at least very late November, 2024, for that first return date of January 2025,” Magistrate Michael Barko said. Mr Kalantar accepted his client had “poor traffic history” and that he’d “struggled with illicit substances for a period of time”. However Mr Kalantar said “to his credit” he’d taken his struggle with substances “very, very seriously”. The court was told Mr O’Keefe was under a conditional release order for a previous offence when he was stopped for random testing in July, however Magistrate Barko said he wouldn’t take action on the breach. Magistrate Barko said he had taken into account several factors, including an apology from O’Keefe and letters of support from his family, in his conviction. “I accept his apology as sincere and genuine,” he said. O’Keefe was issued a $440 fine and was prohibited from driving for six months. The magistrate earlier told the court the maximum penalty for the offence was a $3300 fine and a 12 month driving ban.