‘Not going to stop': Chilling texts revealed as Ethan Davis pleads guilty to abducting, intimidating and harassing ex-girlfriend

West Australian

3 days ago

A superyacht worker wore latex gloves so he wouldn't leave fingerprints while he abducted his ex-girlfriend in a bid to delete evidence from her phone of his harassment against her, with court documents revealing he told her 'this is not going to stop' as part of a barrage of texts and calls.
Ethan Davis on Wednesday pleaded guilty to two counts of stalk/intimidate intend fear physical etc harm, and one count each of use carriage service to menace/harass/offend, possess prohibited drug, and take/detain person with intent to obtain advantage.
The indictment sheet, seen by NewsWire, states 'namely, deleting incriminating data from her mobile device' in relation to the final charge.
He met his former girlfriend in 2021 while working on a superyacht called the Oceana: the pair struck up a casual relationship in March 2022, which became official in November before coming to an end in December 2022 for a short while.
Mr Davis placed a card in the mailbox of the woman's parents' home saying 'I love you xx' shortly afterwards, the statement of agreed facts stated, before the pair got back together in March 2023.
The woman broke up with him months later at the Bondi restaurant Icebergs on August 30, where Mr Davis demanded to know who else she'd been dating.
She told him she'd tell the Oceana's captain if he kept trying to contact her outside of work, and he snatched her phone, prompting her to threaten to scream if he didn't give it back.
'Well scream then,' he fired back, and the woman followed Mr Davis to his car while trying to get her phone back.
He told her he'd drop her home, and gave the phone back after she began to cry, telling her 'You need to calm down' and 'don't tell anyone' as he drove around neighbouring suburbs.
Outside her home, he asked her to return jewellery and a watch he'd bought for her, and she later promised not to tell anyone about the incident via a text message sent shortly after she was dropped off home.
They worked a shift together the following day where the woman asked him to leave her alone, with text messages revealing Mr Davis later asked if they could just 'move on from it'.
She told him she couldn't shake how he made her feel, and asked him to leave her be.
He replied 'it can just be normal again' and 'I don't want it to be like this', specifically telling her 'I can't' in response to her request to leave her be.
Mr Davis then called her more than 200 times via phone, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and FaceTime on September 5 after she declined to spend 'one last night' with him for his birthday, which she'd initially agreed to out of fear.
The agreed facts state he 'bombarded the victim with messages' and threatened consequences if she didn't answer.
He even transferred a single cent to her bank account with the message 'answer your phone', and threatened to break into her home to get her.
'You do not understand this is not going to stop,' Mr Davis texted her.
'If I have to break into your house to get to you I will.
'I do not care.
'So just f***ing answer.'
She told Mr Davis she'd called police and again asked him to stop calling her, to which he sent her further texts for her to answer the phone and explain the situation to him.
The following evening he crouched next to her car, wearing all black and latex gloves, and stood up as she approached after she finished work, telling her she would get in the car.
He grabbed her after she responded no, and she screamed out for help as a car parked nearby began to pull away: it stopped briefly before driving off.
The victim managed to briefly break away from Mr Davis before he grabbed her again and put his hand over her mouth, telling her to 'be quiet' and pushing her into a bush.
On her back, he lay on top of her, telling her 'you're going to get into the car' before picking her up and taking her to the vehicle with his hand over her mouth.
He extended the blade from a Leatherman multi tool at her once in the car and said 'co-operate, it doesn't have to be this bad'.
'What are you going to do to me, why have you got gloves on?' she asked him.
'I don't want to leave fingerprints. You have to get rid of the messages. Once that's done, I'll drop you to the car and everything will be OK,' he replied, with the agreed facts stating he promised not to hurt her.
She then cried and shook the entire 35 minute car trip to Manly, where Mr Davis parked the car at the North Head lookout and made her unlock her phone with Face ID.
He proceeded to delete all messages between the pair from all platforms, as well as screenshots she'd taken, including from the recently deleted folder on her phone.
He then drove her back to where his own car was parked at the Marina and told her he was going to follow her home.
'The victim could see the offender in her rear-view mirror following her home the entire journey,' the agreed facts stated.
She reported the matter at Bondi Police Station the following morning and Mr Davis was arrested shortly after.
Police found black latex gloves, a Leatherman tool, dark clothes and a laptop in his car.