Bisexual 'predator' branded 'cancer' of HMS Dauntless jailed after sexually assaulting male and female sailors
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In one incident, Able Seaman Sian Dowsett squeezed a woman’s nipples and said “do you like that baby girl”?
A predatory female sailor who sexually assaulted male and female sailors to satiate her bisexual tendencies has been jailed.
Able Seaman Sian Dowsett, 25, was slapped with 18 months of service detention and booted out of the Royal Navy following six charges of sexual assault. She was found guilty in March this year of groping four of her shipmates aboard the Portsmouth-based destroyer HMS Dauntless.
During the trial at Bulford Military Court in Wiltshire, she was said to be a “cancer on the ship” by one of her victims. AB Dowsett was found to have grabbed maple sailors by the crotch, stroking their arms, and making comments such as “I like my coffee how I like my men, big and strong”.
The sailor, who has “bisexual tendencies”, also smacked women sailors' bums and squeezed their breasts, saying ”do you like that baby girl?” In sentencing remarks released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) today (September 22), Judge Advocate John Atwill said AB Dowsett took no responsibility for the offences - after denying what happened - and didn’t recognise the impact they would have on her victims.
“Your behaviour towards your ship mates was disgraceful,” he said. “You had no regard for them, their dignity or their contributions in that ship. You upset, frightened and disconcerted them. You seem to have made a habit of targeting new members of the ship’s company, or those who you perhaps considered would not complain.
“You were a predator in that ship, and the impact of your behaviour was widespread. When challenged you denied it all and have continued to do so in discussion with the probation office and the psychiatrist. You said that the people who made complaints about you were liars, they were not.”
The incidents related to AB Dowsett’s tenure as a Chef on HMS Dauntless between June 1, 2023, and January 2024. Four complainants made reports of graphic sexual assaults and 10 witnesses submitted corroborating evidence.
Sentencing remarks said the first charge relates to AB Dowsett slapping a male colleague on the bum in the galley without consent while he was leaning over and writing a list. The second happened a week later where she slapped him on the buttocks “with some force”, Judge Atwill said.
At her previously hearing, the sailor described her as “a bit of a cancer on the ship”, with her behaviour negatively affecting the ship’s company. The third sexual assault saw AB Dowsett grabbing the boobs of a Petty Officer, caressing her nipples while saying “do you like that baby girl?”
Court previously heard the sailor said she was not friends with AB Dowsett, and thought she was trying to ask her if holding her nipple “turned her on”. On a separate occasion, AB Dowsett started stroking the arm of a male Leading Hand and told him “I like my coffee how I like my men, big and strong”.
She pinched his left nipple on and off for around half an hour while maintaining eye contact. In a later incident, AB Dowsett grabbed his penis and balls in her hands.
She would later slap the bottom of a female Able Seaman who joined the ship three days prior. AB Dowsett did this repeatedly while the other sailor was lying on her bunk.
Judge Atwill said: “It is as clear to us as it ought to be to you the impact that your offence has had on those people. Sexual violence undermines confidence. It causes direct and lasting harm, and it completely undermines the trust that victims can have in those they live and work with.”
He added: “The other effect of this type of offending is the particular harm it does within the close-knit necessarily inter-reliant population which is the ship’s company of a ship on operational deployment. That harm is very real, and it undermines both the effectiveness of individuals and risks harming the operational effectiveness of the ship as a whole. You know there are no passengers in a warship.”
Psychiatric reports determined that AB Dowsett has autism without intellectual impairment, which has been considered in mitigation. Jude Atwill said although this may have contributed to her behaviour, and how her shipmates viewed her, it doesn’t reduce her culpability.
“Fundamentally you used sexualised behaviour to dominate or embarrass a number of your colleagues,” he added in conclusion. “That sexualised behaviour extended to the sexual violence of which you were found guilty.
“You may have lacked some insight into your behaviour then and continuing to deny it now is a matter of concern for us. Sexual offending of this sort undermines the bond of trust which is an essential part of service. It affects morale, team cohesion and ultimately operational effectiveness. There is no place for behaviour of this sort in His Majesty’s Forces.”