'Intimidating' female Royal Navy sailor is found guilty of groping male and female shipmates after she 'picked victims who would not complain'

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An 'intimidating' female sailor has been found guilty of a string of six sexual assaults against her male and female shipmates.

Able Seaman Sian Dowsett, 25, was said to be a 'cancer on the ship' after she groped four of her Royal Navy colleagues - two men and two women.

Based on a Navy warship, AB Dowsett grabbed the male sailors by their crotch, stroking their arms, and making comments such as 'I like my coffee how I like my men, big and strong'.

AB Dowsett, who has 'bisexual tendencies', also smacked women sailors' bums and squeezed their breasts, saying 'do you like that baby girl'?

At a court martial at Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire, AB Dowsett was described as taking advantage of new female members of the ship and males who she thought would not report her. 

Prosecutors said her offences 'ranged from nipple pinching to bottom slapping and genital grabbing'.

AB Dowsett was found guilty of six of the seven charges of sexual assault against her.

She described herself in a service police interview as 'heterosexual', but she said that in the past she had 'bisexual tendencies'.

Able Seaman Sian Dowsett, 25, was said to be a 'cancer on the ship' after she groped four of her Royal Navy colleagues

AB Dowsett had told a male colleague's girlfriend before he left that she would 'look after him' and his girlfriend had warned him to be 'careful' around her, the court heard

AB Dowsett carried out her attacks on HMS Dauntless across 2023 and 2024.

Closing the trial, Graham Coombes said: 'You may think that the clear picture of the accused had been a strong, confident, intimidating personality, who strolled around the ship sexually assaulting those she took a fancy to.

'In terms of the females, she would attach herself to new members of the ship.

'With males, she would pick out those who she did not think would complain and push them until she was warned off or she would pick people who didn't feel they could complain.'

He said her actions formed a 'pattern' and her assaults were similar, featuring bum slapping and nipple pinching, adding that despite her attempt to label her victims as conspirators, it was unlikely that all 10 of the witnesses involved in the trial were making up false allegations.

He said: 'There are four complainants. 10 witnesses all conspiring against the accused, with no real motive other than saying she was loud and opinionated.

'These are serious allegations, they are not trivial allegations. Would they really do that?'

Mr Coombes said AB Dowsett had told a male colleague's girlfriend before he left that she would 'look after him' and his girlfriend had warned him to be 'careful' around her. 

One of Dowsett's victims did not report the sexual assaults she carried out on him as it was 'a long deployment' and he did not want to create a bad environment on ship 

The court heard that two weeks into the deployment, she had slapped the bottom of an Able Seaman in the galley as he was leaning over to write a list, leaving him 'stunned'.

He did not report the incident because he said that it was 'a long deployment' and he did not want to create a bad environment early on.

He said that he did not think that the case would go very far if he did report it, and the chain of command would not take him seriously.

A week later AB Dowsett slapped his bottom again in the galley in front of another sailor.

He later snapped at her that he would report her if she ever 'slapped him on the arse again'.

In his police interview, he said: 'It is just disrespectful. A lack of respect really. I wouldn't do that at all and the fact that she has done that three times is just ridiculous.

'Unfortunately she is a bit of a cancer on the ship. She has affected the ship very negatively. She has definitely hindered me and my girlfriend's relationship.' 

When asked why he decided to report the incidents, he said: 'It is just going to get worse. She is just going to go to another ship and do it again. It is just going to get worse before it gets better.'

Dowsett 'cupped' the boobs of one of her female victims and 'caressed her nipple' in a sexual way that made her feel 'uncomfortable'

Mr Coombes said that AB Dowsett grabbed the breasts of a petty officer on HMS Dauntless and 'caressed her nipple' between her thumb and finger, while saying 'do you like that baby girl?'

He said: 'Whilst she was naked and getting changed, the accused grabbed her breasts and pushed them up.

'She caressed her nipple and rubbed it between her fingers, while saying, "do you like that baby girl?" This was both unwanted, and she felt that it was sexual in nature.'    

The Petty Officer said that they were getting ready for a night out, and she had walked between her cabin and a friend's without a top on because she was getting changed.

She said that she had 'cupped' her boobs and 'caressed her nipple' in a sexual way that made her feel 'uncomfortable'.

The Petty Officer said she was surprised because she was not friends with AB Dowsett.

She said she had known her to be bisexual and had thought that she was trying to ask if her holding her nipple 'turned her on'.

On a separate occasion, AB Dowsett had told a male Leading Hand that 'I like my coffee how I like my men, big and strong'.

Then, when they were taking a lesson together, she had stroked his arm, saying that he had 'lovely skin'.

Mr Coombes said AB Dowsett then 'pinched his left nipple' on and off for around half an hour, while keeping eye contact with him.

He also said the sailor had been approached by AB Dowsett after they had returned from deployment and she grabbed his 'penis and balls in her hands'.

In another incident, Mr Coombes said that AB Dowsett had 'slapped the bottom' of a female Able Seaman, who had only joined the ship three days prior, while she was lying on her bed.

He said: 'She slapped her bottom using a lot of force. She will say the accused stopped and said "you have a really nice bottom to smack".

'She then did it two or three more times. She smacked it with such force that she caused her bottom to sting.'

AB Dowsett will be sentenced at a later date. 

The court previously heard the complaints were part of a 'conspiracy' against her - and that she did not 'fancy' any of her fellow soldiers.  

Giving evidence, AB Dowsett told the court there were 'rumours' about her on the ship and she was hated for being 'loud'.

Asked why colleagues would make up allegations, she said: 'Because I was loud and opinionated and I did my job and they all said I didn't get into trouble for things.

'I was loud and confident and know what was right from wrong. I am just a loud person in general.'

She denied slapping one of her victims' bottoms, telling the court: 'I don't know why he said that. Only the fact that I had reported his best friend for buying cocaine in Colombia.

'That would have given [him] and [his friend] an excuse to come together and make up the allegations.'

AB Dowsett also denied 'caressing' another victim's nipple and asking 'do you like that baby girl?' 

She told the court: 'I would never use that terminology.' 

Claiming the string of sexual assault allegations were part of a plot against her, AB Dowsett said of two of her victims: 'They do share the same mess, and they do go out together a lot of the time, so it is a bit of a conspiracy if you ask me.'