Fresh assault charges against former TV show host
FORMER Channel 7 presenter Andrew O’Keefe has been hit with a more serious assault charge against his ex-partner.
The game show host was originally charged with assaulting Dr Orly Lavee at a Randwick apartment on January 31. O’Keefe, 49, was arrested on a nearby street about 3.30am before being taken to a Maroubra police station and charged with common assault.
Waverley Local Court on Tuesday heard two fresh charges have been laid against O’Keefe, who is still an inpatient at a Sydney rehab centre. They include a charge of assault occasioning bodily harm and another common assault offence.
He is accused of assaulting Dr Lavee and causing bodily harm between 11.56pm on January 30 and 12.16am on January 31, at the Randwick apartment.
The further common assault charge was allegedly laid after an altercation in Kangaroo Valley on January 20.
Magistrate Ross Hudson said O’Keefe had not entered a plea to the charges. The court heard negotiations were continuing between prosecutors and O’Keefe’s lawyers about whether the charges would be dismissed under the Mental Health Act.
The case was adjourned for a hearing on June 25, where reports from doctors will be tendered.