Death of Dianne Brimble

Dianne Elizabeth Brimble (10 April 1960 – 24 September 2002) died aboard a P&O Cruises cruise ship of a drug overdose. She is alleged to have been neglected and received callous treatment at the hands of passengers she was with at the time of taking the drug. The investigation into her death has resulted in widespread media coverage in Australia, and criticism of both party culture aboard cruise ships and of the investigation immediately following Brimble's death.

Brimble, a 42-year-old mother of three from Brisbane, died within 24 hours of boarding the P&O Cruises cruise ship Pacific Sky on 23 September 2002, apparently due to ingesting a combination of alcohol and an overdose of the drug gamma-hydroxybutyrate, otherwise known as "GHB" or "fantasy". According to news reports, security staff on the cruise ship were initially told Brimble had died of a heart attack, but there were suspicious circumstances.

Toxicology reports later revealed that the amount of the sedative drug in her system was three times the amount that a recreational user would have used. Her body was found on the floor of cabin D182, which belonged to four of the men whom she had met at the ship's disco the previous night. Newspaper reports initially gave differing accounts as to whether Brimble was partially clothed or unclothed when she was found dead.

Eight men from Adelaide, South Australia, who were travelling companions on the ship had been named by police investigators as "persons of interest" in the case. An inquest was ordered and the eight men, Dragan Losic, Mark Wilhelm, Petar Pantic, Letterio "Leo" Silvestri, Luigi Vitale, Matthew Slade, Ryan Kuchel and Sakelarios "Charlie" Kambouris were subpoenaed to appear.

The inquest began in March 2006. An attempt by Wilhelm's attorney to challenge the inquest was rejected, and Wilhelm has been ordered by Deputy State Coroner Jacqueline Milledge to appear when called. Mark Brimble, the ex-husband of Dianne Brimble, represented the family at the inquest and asked questions of witnesses. Other Pacific Sky passengers and personnel had already made statements.

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