Reality TV star set for Supreme Court bail application
Laine Clark |
Former Bachelor reality TV star Sam Wood is set to again apply for bail, taking his fight to a state’s highest court.
The fitness influencer has set his sights on the Supreme Court after he was refused bail on domestic violence charges on the Sunshine Coast.
Wood, 46, has been accused of throwing his wife into a wall, choking her and banging her head on the floor at a holiday unit at Noosa, north of Brisbane.
Details of the alleged offences were revealed during the bail application that was rejected at Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Wood’s solicitor Mathew Cuskelly confirmed on Friday his client would apply for bail in Queensland’s Supreme Court.
“Those are the instructions that I have received,” he told AAP.
Melbourne-based Wood has spent several nights in custody following his weekend arrest.
His stepdaughter Eve Markoski-Wood, 21, called police on Saturday night reporting he had harmed her mother, fellow Bachelor star Snezana Wood, at the Noosa unit, the court heard on Thursday.
He allegedly grabbed his wife by the throat with one hand and threw her against a wall.
He then held her throat tightly and restricted her breathing while she was on the ground, the court heard.
“She thought she was going to die,” police prosecutor Jeanette Grigoris said of Ms Wood.
Ms Wood was choked to “cessation of breath” before her head was banged on the floor, Sgt Grigoris said.
Ms Wood had allegedly been seriously assaulted by her husband three or four years ago in Victoria but he was not charged, the court heard.
Mr Cuskelly told the court Wood had denied there had been any strangulation, saying his client’s version of events indicated he might be entitled to a self-defence argument.
“There were hostilities,” he said.
“The complainant has moved towards him and continued to yell at him.
“He pushed her away. There is denial of any strangulation.”
Acting Magistrate Janelle Boegheim rejected the bail application, describing the prosecution case as relatively strong.
She said consideration for bail could be revisited if the strength of the case changed.
A Wood family statement addressing the charges was earlier shared on Instagram with his 253,000 followers and his wife’s 330,000 followers.
“We are working through this as a family and are thoroughly co-operating with the authorities,” it said.
Wood earned a national profile as a star of The Bachelor’s third season in 2015, launching a successful home fitness business 28 By Sam Wood.
He reportedly sold it in 2022 for more than $70 million but remained the face of the online platform.
The wellness businesses behind the platform cut ties with him on Tuesday, a day after placing him on indefinite leave.
Wood has been charged with the domestic violence offence of assault occasioning bodily harm and strangulation in a domestic setting.
Mr Cuskelly earlier claimed Wood would defend the charges.
AAP