Female sailor who groped shipmates’ breasts and bums booted out of Royal Navy
An ‘intimidating’ female sailor has been jailed for 18 months and booted from the Royal Navy after sexually assaulting four shipmates to dominate and embarrass them.
Able Seaman Sian Dowsett waged a ‘disgraceful’ sexual assault campaign against four colleagues(Image: Facebook)
An “extremely intimidating” female sailor who grabbed her crewmates’ breasts and bums has reportedly been kicked out of the Royal Navy and sent to military prison for 18 months. Able Seaman Sian Dowsett, 25, waged a “disgraceful” sexual assault campaign against four colleagues aboard Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless to “dominate and embarrass” them.
A court martial heard how the sailor, described as having “bisexual tendencies”, deliberately targeted fresh recruits and shipmates she thought wouldn’t dare report her, with trial witnesses branding her a “cancer on the ship.”
In a brave statement delivered at Bulford Military Court in Wiltshire, one higher-ranking victim recounted the shame she felt after being molested by her subordinate.
A court martial heard how the Dowsett deliberately targeted fresh recruits and shipmates she thought wouldn’t dare report her(Image: Facebook)
The victim said: “I shared a mess with her and I couldn’t talk about the incident because she would hear. 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 higher-ranking victim recounted the shame she felt after being molested during a court martial at Bulford Military Court(Image: PA)
A male victim testified that he was left “anxious” following an attack in the warship’s sick bay, which was followed by another assault in the hangar, reports the Daily Mail.
He said: “I felt guilty that I let it happen but I didn’t tell her to get off. I was assaulted again in the hangar. She did this to me in front of two males I work with which made me feel embarrassed. I stood there in disbelief.”
Dowsett was officially dismissed from His Majesty’s Service over six convictions for sexual assault alongside her 18-month detention sentence.
Defending Dowsett, lawyer Michael Green pointed to a recent autism diagnosis, arguing it could lead to “social exploitation, interpersonal misunderstanding and difficulty navigating social and institutional environments.”
However, assistant judge John Atwill rejected this as an excuse, ruling that these were “acts that any person would know are unacceptable.”
Addressing Dowsett directly during sentencing, the judge condemned the breach of trust inside the tight quarters of a naval vessel.
He told her: “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.”
He added that Dowsett “used sexualised behaviour to dominate or embarrass” her crewmates, concluding: “Sexual offences undermine the essential trust at the heart of our service.
“It undermines team cohesion and effectiveness. There is no place for behaviour of this sort in His Majesty’s service.”
The court heard details of how Dowsett targeted one woman in her cabin, just days after promising to look out for her.
The judge said: “While she was on her bunk you slapped her bottom and then slapped it repeatedly. You tried to turn it into a joke. It was not.”
Many victims initially hesitated to come forward out of embarrassment that a junior female sailor was committing the acts.
However, once they realised Dowsett was targeting multiple crewmates, they banded together to report her.
