Ilknur Caliskan, 47, faced allegations of murdering her husband in September 2023, following his death in a car in Clonbinane, near Melbourne. A crucial factor in the prosecution’s case was the claim that Caliskan had a sleep disorder, potentially affecting her consciousness and voluntary actions at the time of the incident, as discussed in a pre-trial hearing. Although scheduled for trial in the Victorian Supreme Court in March, the case against her was abruptly dropped, with no explanation provided for this decision. Caliskan’s legal team had suggested the possibility of using parasomnia, a sleep disorder characterised by behaviours such as sleepwalking, as part of her defence strategy. Following her release on bail in April 2024 to undertake a sleep study in Sydney, prosecutors received a report on her condition in November. During a January directions hearing, they indicated they were considering the perspectives of the deceased’s family in Turkey before determining the next steps. Caliskan did not attend the recent brief hearing where the discontinuation of the case was announced.
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