Fed: Brimble partners call for reopened inquest

AAP General News (Australia)
04-21-2010
Fed: Brimble partners call for reopened inquest

BRISBANE, April 21 AAP - The former partners of Dianne Brimble want a coronial inquest
into her cruise ship death reopened.

The NSW Director of Public Prosecutions on Wednesday dropped a manslaughter charge
against Mark Wilhelm over the death of the Brisbane mother-of-three.

Ms Brimble died in September 2002, less than 24 hours after she boarded a P&O cruise
ship on a "holiday of a lifetime".

A coronial inquest spanning 16 months led to charges being laid against Wilhelm, in
whose cabin the 42-year-old's body was found.

But NSW Supreme Court Justice Roderick Howie on Wednesday supported the decision to
drop the manslaughter charge.

Ms Brimble's former partner Mark Brimble said the decision was frustrating.

"We're disappointed that it ends this way," he told reporters in Brisbane.

"We are frustrated with the system.

"The question a lot of people are asking right now is `Where to from here?'

"I've said before and I'll say again I'd like to have the coronial inquest reopened.

"We need to know what has to be done to stop this happening to any individual or Australian
travelling on a cruise ship or a holiday.

"Dianne went on a holiday and didn't come back and a lot of people have had to endure
a lot of things, particularly her family and her children."

Ms Brimble's other former partner David Mitchell said the truth had yet to come out.

"We still have a lot of questions after seven-and-a-half years," he said.

AAP stg/pjo/maur/mn

KEYWORD: WILHELM BRIMBLE

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