Arrest footage of former TV host Andrew O’Keefe released by court

The moment embattled former TV personality Andrew O’Keefe realised he was being arrested for a “violent and degrading” assault has been released by the court, showing the ex-host shouting at police as they handcuff him. The former Deal or No Deal host was arrested at a Sydney apartment following claims he’d assaulted a woman and contravened an AVO days before his arrest in September 2021. He has since been sentenced over the breach and the assault, where he had kicked, pushed and spat on a woman, but is currently appealing his criminal convictions. The arrest footage obtained by Nine News shows O’Keefe answering the door while in the middle of a psychiatrist appointment. A clip of the footage shows police trying to arrest O’Keefe, still inside his apartment, and the former lawyer yelling: “This is what happens when I don’t have my medication”. “This is a simple request. Why are you being f**king nazis about it?,” he is heard saying as he’s handcuffed. “Why would I calm down when you’re doing this to me?” While police take him into the lift, an officer can be heard telling O’Keefe: “Your attitude’s not making it any better, all right?”. O’Keefe replies: “Attitude? F**k you man, this is not attitude. This is justifiable and righteousness rage about the way I’m being treated.” He continues to tell the officers to “stop telling me to calm down” as he’s brought to the police wagon. Inside the vehicle, O’Keefe speaks directly to the camera positioned in the back of the wagon. “Just for the sake of the camera, you will note that at every other time when they’re sticking my head against the wall and cuffing me, I’ve been very calm,” he said. The former TV presenter was later cleared of resisting arrest related to the 2021 incident caught on camera. During his sentencing, a magistrate described O’Keefe’s assault as “violent and degrading”. The footage comes after O’Keefe pleaded guilty to a single charge of driving with a suspended licence before Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday. The traffic offence is completely unrelated to the arrest footage released by the court. Police charged the 52-year-old following a routine traffic stop on Victoria Rd in the exclusive Sydney suburb of Bellevue Hill about 1.30pm on June 20. Representing himself in court, O’Keefe told Judge Michael Allen he was on his way to collect his licence when he was stopped by police that afternoon. O’Keefe told the court his licence had been revoked for failing to complete a driving education program which he had done earlier that same month. While admitting the offence was “more minor”, Judge Allen told O’Keefe he was “no stranger to this place in recent times, albeit for more serious offending”. “It is serious that at the time of this more minor offence you were subject to conditional liberty, and that is a factor I’m obliged to take into account,” he said. Judge Allen told the court he accepted O’Keefe’s explanation as “consistent with the reality of the situation”, and that his driving was not “untoward”. The justice did not convict O’Keefe of the offence, and instead sentenced him to a 12-month conditional release order, a form of conditional liberty. Asked outside of court if he hoped his life was “up from here”, O’Keefe told the media he “hoped so” before remarking he’d be back in court the following day. It comes as the former Weekend Sunrise host faces charges of driving while suspended and of intimidation following an unrelated incident last month. O’Keefe is yet to enter any pleas but will also reappear before the court on August 28 to learn his fate after appealing a string of DV and drug-related offences.