Joshua Mason to plea to driving charges in lead up to alleged highway hit-and-run

A mother and son allegedly conspired to bury a grandmother in a shallow, unmarked grave following a highway crash. Now the court has heard details of the young man’s driving history.

A man who allegedly conspired with his mother to hide a grandmother’s body in a shallow grave following a brutal hit and run is expected to make a plea to unrelated driving charges.

Joshua Gary Mason, 24, was allegedly involved in the gruesome hit-and-run which claimed the life of 50-year-old Anmatyerre woman Kumanjayi Napurrurla Dixon.

In the Darwin Local Court on Wednesday, Chief Judge Elizabeth Morris was told Mason was ready to make a plea to driving charges from eight days before the alleged fatal crash.

Police have alleged Mason hit Ms Dixon with his car while driving on the Stuart Highway near Coolalinga on Monday May 30.

Kumanjayi Napurrurla Dixon, 50, was fatally struck in an alleged hit and run on the Stuart Highway, Coolalinga on May 30, 2022.

It was alleged he neither contacted triple-0, but the mother and son worked together to drag Ms Dixon’s body onto the back of Ms Mason’s ute before dumping her in an unmarked grave.

A gruesome sign of the bloody incident was left on the highway, with her disembodied leg left behind.

Two days after the crash police found the rest of her body on Jenkins Rd, Virginia.

The 24-year-old was charged with unlicensed driving, hit and run causing death, unlicensed driving, attempting to pervert the court of justice, destroying evidence and misconduct with a corpse.

Deborah Karen Mason, 50, and her son Joshua Gary Mason, 23, allegedly tried to hide a fatal hit and run by burying 50-year-old grandmother Kumanjayi Napurrurla Dixon in an unmarked grave on Monday May 30.

His mother, Deborah Karen Mason, 50, is accused of attempting to pervert the court of justice, destroying evidence and misconduct with a corpse.

The 24-year-old was also allegedly involved in a Darwin driving incident on May 22, eight days before the alleged hit-and-run.

Mason was charged with speeding 16-30km/h over the limit, low-range drink-driving and unlicensed driving.

On Wednesday, his lawyer Jacob Henderson said the May 22 driving incidents would likely resolve in a plea in his next appearance on December 8.

Mr Henderson said the more serious charges would be referred to the Supreme Court, with a preliminary examination on the papers also due on December 8.

He was remanded in custody, and will appear by a prison video link.

Originally published as Joshua Mason to plea to driving charges in lead up to alleged highway hit-and-run