A report from the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS) states that the law on joint enterprise, in which two or more defendants are accused of the same crime in respect of the same incident, has caused overcriminalisation and discriminatory outcomes as conviction are being obtained in the absence of evidence.

Joint enterprise has been a sources of concern particularly in homicide cases as they lead to peripheral actors being tried and convicted as if they were perpetrators.

The report from the CCJS, will be published in September this year, has been shared with The Guardian. It details a case from 2017 in which 11 black and mixed-race teenagers were sentenced to a total of 168 years’ imprisonment for a single murder in Manchester.

The prosecution produced a gang narrative “underpinned by a rap music video, used as evidence of the defendants’ ‘membership’ or ‘allegiance’ to the ‘gang’”.

Author of the report, Nisha Waller, said: “The current law encourages the overcharging of suspects and allows cases to be propelled forward based on poor-quality evidence. Prosecutors are then left to fill the gaps with speculative theories and often racialised narratives from which juries are invited to infer joint responsibility.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We are aware of concerns that these prosecutions may disproportionately affect some communities. However, it is important that those who commit crimes are brought to justice. We are keeping this matter under review and will consider changes to the law where necessary.”