Sam Wood, the former Bachelor contestant turned fitness guru, appeared in the Supreme Court in Brisbane on Friday where his legal team sought to redact personal details of those supporting his case. The redacted parts would include names, addresses and identifying information relating to people who had filed affidavits for Wood.
Wood, 46, has spent almost three weeks in custody after a Queensland magistrate denied his bail application on October 8. He faces charges of strangulation and assault occasioning bodily harm over an alleged attack on his wife Snezana during a holiday in Noosa earlier this month. His legal team is also seeking a non-publication order in relation to an upcoming bail hearing next Friday.
His barrister, Paula Morreau KC, argued the redactions were needed because of likely media intrusion. "Because what we can see from media action to date, many of which have been referred to in [legal documents], it can be predicted with some confidence that once those addresses are public, there may well be intrusion on the privacy of individuals … who have done no more than offer support and a bail address for [Wood]," she told the court. Morreau said there could also be an impact on fair trial rights.
Justice Patrick McCafferty questioned the need for the order given existing protections under domestic violence laws in Queensland. Several media outlets, represented by Hamish Clift, did not oppose the redactions. McCafferty ultimately ruled for the defence to file redacted copies of documents for the bail application.
The allegations were revealed in Maroochydore Magistrates Court on October 8, when Wood unsuccessfully applied for bail. The court heard Wood pushed Snezana into a wardrobe before the argument spilled into the hallway, where Wood's stepdaughter, Eve Markoski-Wood, told him to stop yelling. Wood then allegedly approached Eve aggressively, Snezana intervened, and he grabbed his wife by the throat, threw her against a wall and struck her head, before throwing her to the floor and gripping her throat, preventing her from breathing.
The court was told Snezana tried to free herself but was unable. "But [she] was unable to do so, saying to police she was scared and thought [her husband] was going to kill her," acting Magistrate Janelle Boegheim said. Boegheim said Wood had recalled pushing his wife away and that there was an incident, but that was the extent of it. "He explicitly denies strangling or causing bodily harm to his wife," she said.
Boegheim determined Wood would be an unacceptable risk if released, and he will remain in custody until his new bail application.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service (1800RESPECT) on 1800 737 732.