Criminals could sidestep the courts... by agreeing to therapy instead: Defendants would go free if they successfully complete their course Criminals should be allowed to sidestep prosecution in order to tackle racial inequality in the justice system, a Government report recommends.

Defendants charged with crimes such as drug dealing, shoplifting or assault could opt for a treatment programme rather than give a plea.

If they successfully complete a course for, say, drug or alcohol problems or anger management, they will go free.

But failure to comply would lead to them being hauled before the courts and risking a criminal record.

Violent criminals who took part in a pilot study in the West Midlands were 35 per cent less likely to reoffend, the report claimed.

Former Labour minister David Lammy outlined the proposal as part of a plan to improve the treatment of black, Asian and minority ethnic people in the criminal justice system.

He said the recommendation – known as ‘deferred prosecution’ – could help address a ‘chronic trust deficit’. Studies show that suspicion of police, prosecutors and solicitors makes ethnic-minority defendants a third more likely to plead not guilty than white suspects, leading to harsher sentences if they are convicted.

Guilty pleas carry a ‘discount’ of up to a third at the sentencing stage, but black and ethnic minority offenders are so distrustful of the system that they refuse to admit culpability. Mr Lammy, who was asked to conduct the review last year by ex-prime minister David Cameron, spent 18 months investigating reports of racial bias in the criminal justice system.

He said: ‘Many black, Asian and minority ethnic defendants simply do not believe the justice system will deliver less punitive treatment if they plead guilty. It is only through delivering fairness, rebuilding trust and sharing responsibility that we will build the equal and just society so often spoken about.’

But he warned there was only so much the justice system could do to tackle over-representation among black, Asian and minority ethnic people.

He said black children were twice as likely to grow up with a single parent, while black and mixed ethnic boys were more likely than white boys to be excluded from school.

‘Communities must take greater responsibility for the development of their people – failing to do so damages society as a whole,’ said Mr Lammy.

The MP made 35 recommendations in his review, which found the proportion of youth prisoners in the black, Asian and minority ethnic group increased from 25 per cent to 41 per cent in the decade to 2016, despite a fall in the number of under-18s in custody.

He said criminals should be allowed to hide their convictions from prospective employers to prevent their lives being derailed by juvenile mistakes.

Black and ethnic minority people are more likely to fall foul of the criminal justice system. Theresa May has identified the treatment of young black men in the justice system as a ‘burning injustice’.

Black people make up 3 per cent of Britons, but 12 per cent of the prison population. In total, 25 per cent of the prison population and 40 per cent of youth offenders are from ethnic minorities, despite making up 14 per cent of the population.