Superyacht staffer Ethan Davis pleads guilty to stalking, kidnapping ex girlfriend

A former superyacht staffer has admitted to abducting his former girlfriend, and bundling her into a car, before using a weapon to scare her into deleting evidence of his threatening behaviour.

Ethan Davis leaves the Downing Centre Court on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty, flanked by his family. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

A former superyacht staffer has admitted to abducting his former girlfriend, and bundling her into a car, before using a weapon to scare her into deleting evidence of his obsessive contact and threats.

Ethan Davis faced Downing Centre District Court on Wednesday where he pleaded guilty to two counts of stalk/intimidate, use a carriage service to menace, harass or offend, take or detain a person with intent to obtain advantage and threaten to distribute an intimate image without consent.

The former deckhand on-board the Oceana superyacht was arrested in September 2023 over behaviour prompted by the breakdown of a casual relationship he’d had with a colleague.

Court documents reveal that prior to his arrest, Davis had been bombarding the young woman with incessant contact, making up to 200 calls in one night, pleading for a chance at rekindling the relationship.

The woman maintained their relationship was done, and she did not love Davis, which soured his attitude toward her as he demanded she pick up his calls.

Ethan Davis leaves the Downing Centre Court.

Davis warned the woman that if she continued ignoring him there would be consequences, before threatening to leak an intimate video she’d sent him during their relationship.

He also threatened to break into her house, which prompted the woman to warn she would go to the police if he did not cease contact.

Davis is accused of kidnapping his former girlfriend. Picture: Supplied/Facebook.

At around 9pm on September 7, the woman had finished work and was walking back to her car where Davis was waiting, crouched down and wearing all black including black latex gloves.

Davis began demanding the woman get in, before he grabbed her by the back while she screamed for him to stop, agreed facts state.

The woman was able to briefly make a run for it, before Davis grabbed her again and, with one hand over her mouth, pushed her into a bush.

According to the agreed facts he then lay on top of her, and said “you’re going to get into the car”.

Davis worked on the Superyacht Oceana. Picture: Burgess Yachts

Davis then carried the woman back to her car and bundled her into the passenger seat before he started driving.

While driving the vehicle, Davis pulled out a leatherman multi tool with the blade extended and told the woman: “co-operate, it doesn’t have to be this mad.”

The terrified woman asked “what are you going to do to me, why do you have gloves?” to

which Davis replied “I don’t want to leave fingerprints” before demanding she delete all the screenshots of his recent threatening messages.

A text mockup of messages allegedly sent by Ethan Davis to his ex-girlfriend after they broke up.

“You have to get rid of the messages, once that’s done I’ll drop you to the car and everything will be okay,” Davis said, according to the facts.

The offender promised he wasn't going to hurt the victim, who then agreed to his request and deleted the screenshots.

He then told her “I’m going to follow you home” and in his own car drove behind her, visible in the woman’s rear view mirror, the entire journey.

The morning after the terrifying ordeal, the woman went to Bondi police station to make a report with Davis arrested a few hours later.

Following Wednesday’s guilty plea, the crown made an immediate bid to have Davis’ bail revoked and have him returned to custody ahead of his sentencing hearing in August.

However, Judge Stephen Hanley refused the application, finding it was not “inevitable” that Davis would receive a full-time jail sentence for his crimes.

He noted Davis had clear underlying mental health issues, no prior criminal record, and would be entitled to a hefty discount on his sentence due to his guilty plea – all of which could see him receive a community-based sentence in lieu of more jail time.