Sam Wood has been transferred to Wolston Correctional Centre in Brisbane after being denied bail while he contests domestic violence charges involving his wife, Snezana Wood.
The 46-year-old fitness personality is being held in a separate wing under a safety order intended to protect him from other prisoners. The high-security Queensland facility houses protection prisoners who may be at risk because of their public profile or the nature of their offences.
Wood was refused bail at Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Thursday and is due to return before the court on November 23. The allegations relate to an incident said to have occurred while the family was on holiday in Noosa on October 3.
Prosecutor Sergeant Jeanette Grigoris told the court Wood allegedly grabbed his wife by the neck, pulled her to the ground and restricted her breathing. She said the woman “thought she was going to die and she was in fear for her safety”.
Notorious prisoners held at Wolston
Wolston’s male grounds are next to Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre and have housed some of Queensland’s most notorious offenders.
Among them is Brett Peter Cowan, the serial rapist and child killer convicted of murdering schoolboy Daniel Morcombe in 2003. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2014, with a non-parole period of 20 years.
Gerard Baden-Clay, who was convicted of murdering his wife Allison in 2012, has also been linked to the facility. He was sentenced to 15 years after a trial in 2014.
The prison has experienced incidents of unrest over the past decade. Robert Paul Long, who set fire to a hostel in 2000, killing 15 backpackers, forced the centre into lockdown in 2023 after protesting on its roof. He surrendered after two days, although the reason for the protest was not disclosed.
Cowan was taken to hospital in 2016 after another inmate allegedly scalded him with boiling water, causing burns to his head, chest and legs. The incident occurred after he was moved from a protective cell into the general prison population.
A female visitor was arrested in 2018 after allegedly attempting to take drugs into the facility. Queensland Corrective Services Commissioner Peter Martin said at the time that passive alert drug detection dogs were among the measures used to detect and seize contraband.
Visitors are also prohibited from taking tobacco or smoking-related items into the centre.
Prisoners at Wolston can work in metal fabrication, painting and powder coating, textiles and assembly workshops. The centre also provides education, vocational training and general and sexual offending treatment programmes.
Wood’s alleged conduct has led to condemnation from several collaborators. DBG Health, which owns his 28 by Sam Wood brand, said: “As a result of further considerations, DBG Health has now terminated all arrangements.”
