Female sailor who carried out a string of sexual assaults against male and female shipmates is kicked out of the Navy

By ANDY DOLAN, GENERAL REPORTER Published: 16:30, 30 July 2026 | Updated: 16:59, 30 July 2026 An 'extremely intimidating' female sailor was today sent to military jail for 18 months after she sexually assaulted four Royal Navy colleagues to 'dominate and embarrass' them. Able Seaman Sian Dowsett, 25, was branded a 'predator in that ship' by a military judge who heard how she targeted two male colleagues and two female colleagues in a 'disgraceful' campaign of sexual assaults on a warship. Dowsett, who the court heard had 'bisexual tendencies', would 'target new members' on board Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless. She grabbed the male sailors by their crotches, stroked their arms, and made comments such as, 'I like my coffee how I like my men, big and strong,' while on a navy warship. She also smacked women 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 female members of the ship and males who she thought would not report her. During those proceedings,  Dowsett was said to be a 'cancer on the ship'. Today, one of her victims bravely told of her 'embarrassment' after being molested by Dowsett, a woman of lower rank than her. The woman 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. Able Seaman Sian Dowsett, 25, groped four of her Royal Navy colleagues Dowsett left shipmates suffering sleepless nights as a result of her behaviour '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 Dowsett's male victims told Bulford Military Court in Wiltshire he was left feeling 'anxious' after he was assaulted on board HMS Dauntless in the sick bay. 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.' As well as being detained, Dowsett was today dismissed from the Navy over the six convictions for sexual assault. Mitigating for her, Michael Green said Dowsett had recently been diagnosed with autism, which could cause 'social exploitation, interpersonal misunderstanding and difficulty navigating social and institutional environments'. However Assistant Judge John Atwill said that these were 'acts that any person would know are unacceptable'. Dowsett, pictured leaving the court earlier this year, 'used sexualised behaviour to dominate or embarrass' colleagues, a judge said Sentencing Dowsett, the judge 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 said Dowsett 'used sexualised behaviour to dominate or embarrass' colleagues, adding: '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 one woman was assaulted in her cabin, days after Dowsett had vowed to look after her. 'While she was on her bunk you slapped her bottom and then slapped it repeatedly,' the judge said. 'You tried to turn it into a joke. It was not.' The court heard many of the victims were reluctant to report the pattern of offending because they were embarrassed that a junior female officer had perpetrated the assaults. But when they realised they were not the only victims, they began to report Dowsett.