Dianne Brimble accused Mark Wilhelm could have saved her life, a court has heard

DIANNE Brimble's life could have been saved on her tragic cruise but for the actions of one man now on trial for her death, a court has heard.

Cruise victim ... Dianne Brimble who was found dead in her cabin aboard cruise ship Pacific Sky during 2002.

DIANNE Brimble's life could have been saved but for the actions of one man now on trial for her death, a court has heard.

Mark Wilhelm, 37, this morning pleaded not guilty before a jury to one count of manslaughter, and one of supplying Ms Brimble with the drug that allegedly killed her on board the Pacific Sky cruise ship in September 2002.

Crown Prosecutor Mark Hobart SC has this morning told the jury of five men and seven women that Ms Brimble died from a lethal combination of alcohol and the drug gamma-hydroxybuterate - known as GHB or fantasy.

Mr Hobart said the court would hear evidence of telephone intercepts, in which Wilhelm admitted giving Ms Brimble the drug before they had sex.

However it was his actions following the consumption of the drug which the Crown said amounted to her "unlawful killing".

"The Crown says that if Ms Brimble had been treated, if she had been assisted to breathe, it's likely she would have survived," Mr Hobart told the Supreme Court.

Earlier, Justice Rod Howie urged the jury to put out of their minds anything they had heard about the case, including the long-running coronial inquest into the mother-of-three's death.