A jealous love rival has admitted causing criminal damage to a £450,000 motor yacht after he caught his girlfriend in a compromising position with its married millionaire owner.

Dave Taylor, 54, went to Michael Hay’s boat ‘Coco’ and found his girlfriend Hannah Brookes, 26, sitting in front of him performing a sex act, the court heard.

Taylor was furious and cut the mooring ropes attaching the twin-engine boat to Newcastle quayside.

The ‘jealous’ lover also cut away another motorboat belonging to Mr Hay which was moored nearby.

The larger vessel went spinning down the Tyne in the pitch black on the high tide current, with Miss Brookes, 26, and Mr Hay, 58, aboard.

The incident took place after David Taylor, pictured right, had a row with his young girlfriend Hannah Brookes, pictured left - who is believed to be in her 20s

Taylor caused damage to Mr Hay's £450,000 Fairline Squadron, pictured, called Coco

Taylor claims he saw his girlfriend performing a sex act on millionaire Michael Hay, pictured, through the porthole of his yacht

As the owner tried to control the 60ft yacht he saw his other boat, called ‘Vortex’, was also floating away unmanned.

It hit the quay repeatedly until it got caught by a metal pontoon half a mile downstream.

The fire brigade, coastguard, police and boats from the Port of Tyne were called out to retrieve it.

The incident caused more than £10,000 worth of damage and has left Vortex, a Sealine 38, worth £100,000, out of action for a year.

Sarah O’Neill, prosecuting at Newcastle magistrates court, told Taylor: ‘You have been going out with this Hannah, you are jealous and you’re wondering where she’s going.

‘You were jealous and that’s why you decided to cut the cables. It was clearly your intention in anger to cause this to happen.’

Speaking of his girlfriend, pictured, Taylor said in court: 'I looked through the porthole. Hannah was sitting on the chair and he was standing up in front of her'

As the boat drifted away, Hannah Brookes (pictured, is said to have been screaming and crying

Yesterday Mr Hay, a married father of two daughters, denied that he had had an affair with the former dancer, who is less than half his age.

The retired car dealer, who lives in a £600,000 house in Durham, said: ‘He believes I was having an affair with his ex-girlfriend. I would be so lucky.’

The pair had known each other for some years as they both owned boats in Newcastle and had socialised with each other on a number of occasions.

Giving evidence, Mr Hay said: ‘I was aware of him crouching on the pontoon looking into my boat. I thought that he was spying on Hannah - I said to her “don’t look”.

‘Then she said “Mike we’re moving” and it was then that I realised that he had cut the rope.

‘The engine was not switched on and with a boat you have to switch everything on to get it to go.’

Taylor, pictured, had known Mr Hay for some years as they both owned boats in Newcastle and had socialised with each other on a number of occasions.

But Taylor, an electrician, told the court: ‘I looked through the porthole, Hannah was sitting down on the couch and Mike was standing in front of her,’ adding in a police statement read out in court that he saw her performing a sex act.

The incident had started when Taylor, who lives on a boat at St Peter’s Marina, Newcastle, had been on a date at the Pitcher and Piano pub with Miss Brookes, as it was his birthday.

But the pair had a raging row after Miss Brookes’s phone ended up in the Tyne.

She drove off, saying she was going to the casino, but 15 minutes later her car was spotted on the quayside where Mr Hay’s boat was moored.

The former dancer had run in floods of tears down to the quayside and jumped on board Coco.

Taylor, describing what happened before the incident, said: ‘Me and Hannah had a drink.She handed me her phone and I went through it and saw texts between her and Mike.

The incident had started when Taylor, pictured right, who lives on a boat at St Peter’s Marina, Newcastle, had been on a date at the Pitcher and Piano pub with Miss Brookes, pictured left, as it was his birthday

She wasn’t happy about me reading her texts. We discussed where she’d been for the last couple of nights as prior to that she had spent the night on my boat.

‘There was a bit of confusion as to where she was going that night.

‘She jumped in her car and drove off. I’d arranged to meet some friends. I walked along the quayside and as I was approaching the boat on the quayside I noticed Hannah’s car parked up.

‘She ran across the road and down the gangplank. I saw her run on to Coco, I was a little surprised and I went to see if she was okay.

‘I looked through the porthole, Hannah was sitting down on the couch and Mike was standing in front of her.’

Taylor was adamant that he had seen his girlfriend performing a sex act on Mr Hay, who is married to wife Erika, 56, and has two daughters aged 32 and 28.

Taylor, pictured, describing what happened before the incident, said: ‘Me and Hannah had a drink. She handed me her phone and I went through it and saw texts between her and Mike'

He cut the lines to the boat and it drifted off down the river, which had a current of around 6mph.

But as Mr Hay started the engine to bring it back to its berth he saw his second boat drift past him.

Mr Hay said: ‘Hannah was screaming, shouting “What’s happening, am I going to die?”.

‘We were going to hit the Millennium Bridge but I got it started and we came back.’

Ruth Forster, defending, said: ‘It was part of a jealous love triangle, if you will.

'You’ve had a falling out over a young woman and rightly or wrongly you’ve assumed he’s come to cause trouble, and you’ve presumed he’s cut the rope.’

Taylor pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal damage.

Her solicitor said: ‘The bench are of the opinion that the criminal damage was intentional, and we also agree the cost of the estimated damage to the boats themselves.

‘We’ve decided to accept the costings. It does go over the £10,000 damage mark.’

The case was adjourned for a sentencing hearing at Newcastle Crown Court on October 5.

A charge of theft of a Samsung Galaxy S7 phone worth £800 was dropped by the Crown.