ACT man spent two weeks in jail over fabricated allegations by ex-partner

“There’s maybe six machine guns pointed at me from behind shields, and I was just hauled out of bed in my undies,” the 34-year-old earthworks contractor tells The Australian.

Zaja barely had time to register that the black-clad intruders were part of a police tactical response team before he was dragged down a flight of metal steps, still in his underwear.

The police jumped on him, breaking two ribs and one of his teeth he claims, then made him stand in the street for over an hour, still in his underwear, with their guns trained on him – and on his terrified 56-year-old mother, Katherine, who also lived on the property.

Only months later – after he had spent two weeks in jail – would a magistrate find Zaja had been arrested entirely on the fabricated – and unchecked – claims of his former partner that he was an armed and violent bikie.

The saga has revealed a staggering level of negligence and incompetence by ACT Policing and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Magistrate Jane Campbell described the conduct of police and prosecutors as “egregious” and months of inaction over clearly fabricated allegations as “unbelievable”.

Zaja’s lawyer directed a savage spray at DPP Victoria Engel for “dragging her feet” in failing for months “to consider what was overwhelming evidence that the complainant is a cunning and calculated storyteller”.

“Sadly, this matter is not an isolated incident but it is a very stark example of the failings of this director,” said solicitor Peter Woodhouse. He also took aim at police, castigating the deplorable arrest of his client.

“All of that was done because police blindly accepted the word of the complainant … without question and without independent investigation.”

Zaja, still in his underwear, is held at gunpoint by police after his arrest in Canberra; the picture was taken by his mother, Katherine.

The saga began when Zaja’s estranged girlfriend told police he was an outlaw motorcycle gang member hoarding weapons and drugs. After the violent raid on his house, Zaja – who has never been a member of a bikie gang – was charged with a litany of crimes including assault, choking/suffocating/strangling and threatening to kill, after allegations of serious domestic violence by the woman.

His mother, Katherine, is devastated by what has happened to her son. “I woke to the sound of my front gates exploding. It’s a sound I’ll never forget,” she tells The Australian. “Walking out my front door in my dressing gown at 3am, a tall, intimidating man pointing a gun at me and screaming at me at the top of his voice.”

Zaja with his mother, Katherine, and sister Melissa.

She was forced to stand in the cold while they dragged her son into the street. She was told not to use her phone, but she managed to take a photograph of her son.

“We now know they [the SWAT team] didn’t have their body cam footage on. That makes me think now ‘What if they had shot me?’ There would’ve been no evidence as to why.

“It’s been the worst nightmare fighting for our lives, trying to prove he was innocent, knowing he was innocent all along. He was a healthy, normal man, and it has broken his soul.”

From the morning of the violent raid on Zaja’s house, his solicitor warned investigating officers that the allegations were a total fabrication. At every stage, Zaja’s criminal lawyers informed police, prosecutors and the court that Zaja’s former partner was lying to gain advantage in a contentious parenting dispute over the couple’s son. Zaja still has not seen his son since he was dragged from his home that morning on October 17.

Zaja was eventually released on bail after two weeks imprisoned at Canberra’s Alexander Maconochie Centre, after barrister Anthony Williamson told the court there was “not a scintilla of evidence” to support the charges. “The only real issue that arises is whether she is an inherently unreliable witness, or whether she is a calculated liar.”

Lawyer Peter Woodhouse. Picture: Kym Smith

Anthony Williamson SC

Zaja was freed on strict bail conditions while separated from his young son. Eventually, digital forensic analysis of the woman’s phone proved the threatening and obscene messages had been faked.

The analysis confirmed she had used her Apple wallet to pay for an anonymous texting subscription on the websites anonsms.com and anontexter.com.

On September 12, 2025, she sent herself a demeaning text message – “Stupid slut keep it shut” – and then deleted it, on the date she claimed Zaja had harassed her.

Despite the evidence, investigating police admitted to taking no meaningful action to verify Zaja’s claims of innocence for months.

On February 11, Woodhouse wrote to the DPP observing the “inescapable conclusion” was that the woman had no credibility. “The evidence available to police and to your office clearly shows that (the woman) sent the anonymous messages to herself and has therefore also fabricated evidence and, it seems, attempted to pervert the course of justice,” Woodhouse said. “She is obviously a seasoned and manipulative liar.”

He asked for charges to be dropped to avoid “the already long-dead horse being further flogged into the afterlife”.

The DPP refused to budge. Meanwhile, Zaja’s lawyers asked repeatedly for the results of the forensic analysis of both the woman’s phone and Zaja’s.

When they asked for body-worn camera footage from the raid they were told, astonishingly, that none existed until after a search of the house had begun.

ACT DPP Victoria Engel.

When the case came before Campbell two weeks ago, police made astonishing admissions. In cross-examination, Woodhouse asked David Edwards: “Do you accept the complainant has fabricated evidence to support those allegations?”

“It appears that way, yes,” the constable replied.

When Woodhouse asked if the evidence established that the woman lied to the police, Edwards answered “Correct”.

The gross mishandling of evidence extended to Zaja’s mobile phone, which had been seized by police in August.

When the police officer who was compiling the brief of evidence, constable Vincent Killeen, failed to show up in court, he was reached by phone – and revealed that the reason he wasn’t in court was that he had just dropped off Zaja’s phone that morning at Digital Forensics – seven months after it was seized.

In cross-examination, Woodhouse asked him: “You failed in that responsibility?”

Killeen replied: “Yes, that is ­correct.”

During the March hearing, the prosecutor claimed that despite having exonerating evidence, the DPP still needed more time to review the matter.

Campbell excoriated the police and prosecution from the bench. “I find the entire conduct of both the police and the DPP to be egregious,” she said, noting that the authorities were already well aware the evidence was faked.

“The police officer, the informant, today has expressed a belief that this complainant has fabricated evidence,” she said.

“The DPP presumably have that knowledge, and they have had that knowledge since January and no one has done anything about it.

“It is unbelievable,” she said.

“And this matter stands out, in my mind, in a serious way and reflects very poorly on your office.”

On Friday, the DPP abandoned all charges against Zaja.

Ms Campbell awarded him costs and directed the registrar to provide a transcript of the proceedings to the Chief Police Officer and to AFP Professional Standards.

Woodhouse is calling for an apology and compensation, and has also asked that the woman be investigated and charged.

“Her despicable conduct is a prime example why those who chant the ‘believe all women’ mantra are so misguided,” he said.

“My client further expects that police and the DPP will investigate whether a culture shift whereby all allegations made by complainants are blindly accepted has contributed to this miscarriage of justice.”

The saga has taken an extraordinary toll on Zaja, who has been unable to see his son and has had to borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay legal fees and keep his business afloat.

“Why did it take so long? Why didn’t the police investigate or the DPP? What were they doing?” he asks. “It’s obvious why so many fathers kill themselves. Every morning driving to work, I think, if I just pull the steering wheel right straight into a truck, finish at all. But I can’t do that to my son.”

A spokesperson for the DPP said that “contrary to the criticisms made, the complete relevant material was not received by the DPP until 18 March, 2026, less than two days before the administrative listing in the Magistrates Court. “Within seven business days of the DPP receiving the necessary material, a determination of whether the matter should proceed was made … it is not correct the DPP did nothing.”

An ACT Policing spokesperson told The Australian that “concerns about potential exculpatory mat­erial … could not be confirmed until an electronic device was forensically examined … The circumstances will be considered to seek to identify any learnings that may arise from this situation.”

Neither the DPP nor ACT ­Policing responded to questions about whether they intended to apologise to Zaja.