Joshua Mason appeals prison term over hit-and-run conspiracy that left a leg on Stuart Highway

A young man who dragged a Territory grandmother’s body into a shallow grave in an attempt to cover up a gruesome hit and run has lodged an appeal over his punishment. Warning: Distressing.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains the names and images of Indigenous people who have passed, used with the permission of their families.

A man who dragged a beloved Aboriginal grandmother into a shallow bush grave after hitting her on a dark stretch of the Stuart Highway is fighting to appeal his prison sentence.

Joshua Mason, 23, has filed an appeal application eight months after he pleaded guilty and was sentenced for hit-and-run driving causing death, attempting to pervert the course of justice and interfering with a corpse.

Supreme Court Justice Jenny Blokland in December last year heard Mason was on May 30, 2022 driving to buy cannabis from a friend at the same time 50-year-old Kumanjayi Napurrurla Dixon was walking on the Stuart Highway.

Mason’s Holden Commodore collided with the Anmatyerre grandmother, who was thrown 6.5m in what was called an “unavoidable” crash in the 100km/h zone.

Kumanjayi Napurrurla Dixon, 50, was fatally struck in an alleged hit and run on the Stuart Highway, Coolalinga on May 30, 2022. Her severed leg was later spotted by motorists.

Mason, who was on a suspended licence, called his mother Deborah Mason.

Together Mason and his mother dragged Ms Dixon’s body into the back of a ute, dumped her 20m into bushland and scattered plants over her lifeless body.

Ms Dixon may have become just another missing person, had the pair not left behind a gruesome clue.

The next morning Territory motorists spotted the 50-year-old’s severed leg on the side of the highway.

Following a police call for information, Mason moved Ms Dixon’s body for a second time, dragging and dumping her face down in the long grass on Jenkins Rd.

Janita Dixon, the daughter of alleged hit and run victim Kumanjayi Napurrurla Dixon, at her mother's roadside memorial.

“Her life is over, my life is over, my mum’s life is over, all because an idiot wants to walk on the road,” Joshua would later tell police.

But Justice Blokland said ultimately it was their conspiracy to cover up the crash that condemned them, calling the decision “insensitive and callous”.

Mason was sentenced to a total of six years, with a non-parole period of three and a half years.

In April Mason lodged an application to seek an appeal of his sentence, as well as an application to allow the late appeal notice which was filed beyond the required 28 days.

In mid-August his matter was considered in the Supreme Court before Registrar Renata Blanch, with a hearing date set for December 6.

His mother was previously sentenced to two years imprisonment, suspended after 12 months for attempting to pervert the course of justice and interfering with a corpse.

Originally published as Joshua Mason appeals prison term over hit-and-run conspiracy that left a leg on Stuart Highway