Sam Wood transferred to prison for high-profile detainees
Former reality TV star Sam Wood has been transferred to a prison for high-profile detainees classified as requiring protection.
Wood is accused of pushing and choking his wife Snezana at a luxury hotel in Noosa on the Sunshine Coast, allegedly making her fear for her life.
Fitness entrepreneur Sam Wood and a court sketch of his appearance in Maroochydore Magistrates Court (left). Nine/Supplied
The 46-year-old was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm (domestic violence) and strangulation in a domestic setting.
Wood is defending the charges.
He was denied bail in Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Thursday and held in remand before being transferred to Brisbane Correctional Centre last week.
He was today transferred to Wolston Correctional Centre.
While both are high-security facilities, Wolston specifically houses high-profile prisoners classified as protection and those on remand.
Among the inmates of Wolston are Brett Peter Cowan, the killer of murdered schoolboy Daniel Morcombe, and Gerard Baden-Clay, who murdered his wife Allison in April, 2012.
Wolston Correctional Centre houses some of the state’s worst criminals. 9News
The court heard on Thursday that Wood had allegedly pushed his wife with one hand into a wall and then to the ground, before grabbing the alleged victim around the neck “gripping tight and restricting the airway”.
It is alleged Ms Wood told police that she thought “that this was it, that her life was going to end”.
In making the application for bail, his defence said he had no history of offending, had been diagnosed with “severe depression” and would stay with his father in Victoria.
The prosecution tendered evidence including photographs of Ms Wood’s alleged injuries and said the fitness entrepreneur’s high profile and significant financial resources meant he was an unacceptable risk of not returning to Queensland.
The prosecution also told the court of a previous alleged domestic violence incident in Melbourne that did not result in a complaint to police being made.
Wood’s legal team have indicated he will now take his application for bail to Queensland’s Supreme Court.
Wood gained a national profile as a star of The Bachelor’s third season in 2015, where he met his future wife.
He later launched a successful home fitness business, 28 By Sam Wood, and sold it in 2022 for reportedly more than $70 million but remained the face of the online platform.
The brand’s parent company has now terminated all agreements with Wood.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
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