The son of slain north Queensland woman Dorothy Britton has been committed to stand trial for murder 24 years after his mother was fatally shot.

March 5, 2020

The son of slain north Queensland woman Dorothy Britton allegedly confessed to his mother’s murder at an oxtail stew dinner party with friends.

Christopher Mark Britton also joked about dragging Ms Britton’s head over rocks before the 48-year-old was found dead at her Whitsunday home 24 years ago.

Britton, 53, has been committed to stand trial for his mother’s alleged murder on March 6, 1996.

Her body was found a day later when relatives arrived to find her front door open and a shotgun was missing from the home.

The mother-of-three’s handbag, containing cash, was not touched and there were no signs of a struggle.

Britton denies killing his mother.

But his former friend, Britt Neal, says he confessed to her and another friend during a meal at his mother’s home.

“He said they wouldn’t find who did it and they wouldn’t find the rifle … because it was him, that’s why they wouldn’t find who did it,” Ms Neal said.

“He just came out with it … 100 per cent he said it to me.

“It’s not something you would joke about.

“I was disturbed … It’s not something you forget.”

Ms Neal said she had known for many years that Ms Britton had been shot in the face in her bedroom but had never wanted to believe her friend was the murderer.

Earlier in the hearing Britton’s former girlfriend, Tracey Lampard, said Ms Britton’s death was laughed about regularly in a house the pair shared.

“We’d just stir each other. There was never any malice. We’d joke around about it,” Ms Lampard told Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday.

Ms Lampard agreed with defence lawyer Jacob Robson that Britton once said “if I could get away with it, I’d drag her up the hill so her head hit the rocks”.

“It was only light-hearted, never anything serious,” Ms Lampard said.

She said the pair had been smoking cannabis at the time.

The hearing was also told Britton allegedly said he would not kill his mother because she wasn’t worth going to prison for.

Britton was charged with his mother’s cold-case murder in June 2018, having been estranged from his family for about 17 years.

Officers arrested him in South Australia, where he was living and doing odd jobs.

He will be tried in the Brisbane Supreme Court at a date to be fixed.