Dianne Brimble saga ends with no conviction as Mark Wilhelm walks free

THE inquest into the cruise ship death of Dianne Brimble is to be reopened as the man who spent the final hours with her today escaped any legal punishment.

THE inquest into the cruise ship death of Dianne Brimble is to be reopened as the man who spent the final hours with her today escaped any legal punishment.

Earlier today, Mark Robin Wilhelm was convicted of supplying Ms Brimble the drug GHB or Fantasy on a Pacific Sky cruise in 2002 but no punishment was imposed.

Last week the Crown dropped its case of manslaughter against him.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal that the coroner who headed the 16-month inquest into Ms Brimble’s death will now reopen the hearing in order to make a formal finding and recommendations.

A spokesman for the Department of Justice and Attorney General says the matter will return to the Coroner’s Court on a date to be fixed.

No witnesses will be called, only submissions from interested parties about findings and recommendations, the spokesman said.

The family of Ms Brimble have long agitated for this outcome, with her ex-husband Mark Brimble saying the cruise industry needed to be reformed.

When told by The Daily Telegraph of the news, Mr Brimble said the news was a relief because the family wanted nothing more than to ensure this never happened again.

“Finally something good comes out of the last few years,” he told The Daily Telegraph from Brisbane.

Mr Brimble has long urged the Coroner to make recommendations about the cruise industry, so that a situation like this could be avoided in the future.

In handing down the sentence this morning, Supreme Court Justice Roderick Howie said it must be noted that he was not sentencing Wilhelm for the consequences of the supply - that is, the fact that Ms Brimble died a short time later.

He described the supply as a "social" or consensual one, with the evidence showing both Wilhelm and Ms Brimble took the drug willingly, as adults, ahead of a sexual encounter.

"Therefore on the scale of supply, it must be on the absolute lowest range of such offences," Justice Howie said.

Justice Howie convicted Wilhelm under Section 10A but did not impose any punishment.

He said Ms Brimble's death had impacted greatly upon Wilhelm, with evidence tendered revealing he had "an acute mental illness" as a result of depression and anxiety.

He had privately shown great remorse from the time he sobered up and realised what had happened to Ms Brimble.

"No punishment I can give will be anything like the punishment he has suffered over the years," Justice Howie said.

He said he hoped Wilhelm could now get on with his life.

"Its finally over," Justice Howie said.