Former anti-bikie cop Zac Aaron Chudleigh to stand trial for allegedly stealing designer watches

As many as 10 witnesses could give evidence in the case against a former anti-bikie detective accused of stealing designer watches worth at least $30,000 from a convicted wannabe cocaine smuggler, a court has heard, as a trial date is set.

Detective Senior Constable Zac Aaron Chudleigh leaves the District Court in Brisbane.

A detective attached to the anti-bikie police taskforce will stand trial in December accused of stealing three designer watches from a convicted wannabe cocaine smuggler.

Detective Senior Constable Zac Aaron Chudleigh, who has since resigned from the Queensland Police Service, pleaded not guilty to two charges during arraignment in Brisbane District Court on Tuesday.

The first charge alleges Chudleigh stole three watches through his job in the public service on March 31, 2022. The second offence accuses Chudleigh of dishonestly gaining a benefit of at least $30,000, but less than $100,000, between March 30 and September 22, 2022.

The items in question are two Audemars Piguet Royal Oak watches and one Hublot watch.

During Tuesday’s arraignment, Chudleigh sat in the dock in the courtroom wearing a full navy-coloured suit and spoke only to reply “not guilty” when both charges were read to him.

Solicitor Thomas Schafer, of the firm Gnech and Associates, told the court that the trial is expected to last 3-4 days.

The court also heard that the Crown case involves evidence from around 10 witnesses.

District Court Chief Judge Brian Devereaux listed the trial to start on Monday, December 9.

Chudleigh remains on bail.

Earlier this month, the alleged victim of the allegedly stolen watches, Jordan Roman Brennan, was sentenced in Brisbane Supreme Court.

Brennan was found guilty by a jury at trial of attempting to possess 48kg of cocaine he believed was hidden inside a shipping container at the Port of Brisbane on June 12, 2020.

The trial heard that Brennan and an accomplice accessed the shipping container in the early hours of the morning in a bid to retrieve the cocaine they believed was hidden inside.

However, they were unaware that dock workers in Belgium had found the packages four months earlier and the drugs had been removed and seized by police.

Brennan was sentenced on June 6 to 11 years in prison, with a non-parole period of five-and-a-half years.

Brennan has launched a civil suit against the State because the Queensland Police Service is unable to return the allegedly stolen watches.