Print

Mail

wiki links

Witness tells of sex, nudity in Aussie cruise murder

Passengers running about in the nude and having sex outdoors were common on a cruise liner where an Australian woman died of an overdose of a date-rape drug, a crew member said yesterday.

The night manager of the cruise on the Pacific Sky in September 2002, Kathleen Taylor, told the Glebe Coroner's Court in Sydney that she would often have to separate couples caught engaging in sex acts in public.

"An explanation was given like `come on man, you're doing the wrong thing, there's children around,'" she was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press.

Asked if these practices were common during her more than 10 years working on board cruise ships, she said: "All the time."

The inquest has been shown photographs of one of eight men named as "persons of interest" in the death of mother-of-three Dianne Brimble, 42, in a hallway wearing only a lifejacket.

"If you were to write up every person that was running around naked there would be 15 to 20 [security] log books," Taylor told the inquest. "Sometimes there was 15 to 20 a night."

`fantasy'

Brimble's naked body was found on the floor in a cabin belonging to some of the men named at the inquest less than 24 hours after she boarded a Pacific Islands cruise.

The coroner's court has heard the usually reserved woman was seen dancing with a group of men in the ship's disco just hours before she died of an overdose of the drug gammahydroxybutyrate, known as "Fantasy."

The inquest has horrified Australia, as a string of passengers testified about the drunken antics of the group of eight men on the cruise.

A recording of a police interview with one of the men after Brimble's body was found in his cabin provoked particular disgust from the media and the dead woman's family.

The man, Letterio Silvestri, then aged 38, complained bitterly to police that his holiday had been ruined by her death.

security plan

The woman's ex-husband, Mark Brimble, last week presented a 10-point cruise industry security plan to the federal government aimed at avoiding similar tragedies.

Brimble, who has become the Australian representative of the International Cruise Victims' Organization (ICV), said passengers had been let down by judicial uncertainties and poor treatment by the cruise industry.

"The cruise industry is increasing in size in a dramatic way, yet companies are largely unregulated and unaccountable for the protection of passengers from crime, and for assisting passengers after a crime has been committed," Brimble said.

The ICV, which started in the US at the beginning of the year, is a non-profit organization that provides support to families and victims of crime and lobbies for legislative changes.

Brimble's plan for improvements in security aboard cruise liners was adapted from a similar plan presented to the US Con-gress. It features security upgrades on cruise ships, including 24-hour camera surveillance and international policing.

P&O Cruises Australia managing director Gavin Smith said Brimble's suggestions would be taken seriously.
This story has been viewed 2025 times.