‘Intimidating’ female sailor who sexually assaulted 4 shipmates on Royal Navy warship to ‘dominate’ them is jailed

A FEMALE sailor who sexually assaulted male and female colleagues while aboard a Royal Navy destroyer has been jailed. Able Seaman Sian Dowsett, 25, was booted out the Navy after being found guilty of abusing four colleagues in a “disgraceful” campaign of intimidation. Sian Dowsett has been sentenced to 18 months in military prison Credit: Facebook The suspect was also dismissed from the Royal Navy Credit: Facebook Dowsett was branded a “predator” by a military judge who heard how she targeted both male and and female colleagues. The court learned that Dowsett – who had “bisexual tendencies” – would “target new members” on board Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! She reportedly grabbed the male sailors by their crotches and stroked their arms on multiple occasions. The suspect also allegedly made vastly inappropriate comments like, “I like my coffee how I like my men, big and strong”. Dowsett targeted male and females colleagues in a campaign of intimidation Credit: Solent Dowsett joined the Navy in 2019 Credit: Solent To make matters worse, she smacked female sailors’ bums and squeezed their breasts, saying, “Do you like that baby girl?” A court martial earlier this year heard Dowsett took advantage of new recruits who she thought would not report her. During the torrid proceedings, Dowsett was said to be a “cancer on the ship”. One of her victims described the “embarrassment” of being molested by a woman of lower rank than her. Most read in The Sun “I shared a mess with her and I couldn’t talk about the incident because she would hear,” the victim said. “I was also embarrassed – not only that I had been sexually assaulted by a woman but a woman who was of a lower rank than me and who should look up to me.” “She was an extremely intimidating character. She would scream and shout at people. “I had so many sleepless nights when she was aboard. She had unrestricted access to me and I honestly believed she would physically attack me. “I thought if she knew I reported it her anger would have been uncontrollable.” One of her male victims told Bulford Military Court in Wiltshire how he was left feeling “anxious” after the harrowing ordeal. “I felt guilty that I let it happen but I didn’t tell her to get off. I was assaulted again in the hangar,” he said. “She did this to me in front of two males I work with which made me feel embarrassed. I stood there in disbelief.” On top of the hefty jail sentence, she was dismissed from the Navy over six convictions for sexual assault. Dowsett had reportedly been recently diagnosed with autism, which could cause “social exploitation, interpersonal misunderstanding and difficulty navigating social and institutional environments”. Assistant Judge John Atwill said that these were “acts that any person would know are unacceptable”. Sentencing Dowsett, the judge said: “Service personnel have little choice over who they work and live with. The confines of work in ships brings them into close proximity with work colleagues. “The use of that proximity to abuse and dominate others violates their autonomy and drives division into the teams in which they work. “Your behaviour towards them was disgraceful. You upset, frightened and disconcerted them and you had no regard for the impact of your behaviour. “You were a predator in that ship, and seemed to target newer members.” Dowsett joined the navy in 2019 and was serving as a chef aboard HMS Dauntless at the time of the offences.