Sir Ken Macdonald QC has made an outspoken attack on the criminal justice system for failing to recruit enough black and minority ethnic (BME) staff.

In his final official speech as Director of Public Prosecutions, Macdonald (pictured) called on other parts of the justice system to emulate the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), where 14% of its staff are from BME groups.

He said: ‘If other institutions have not achieved it, it is not because they cannot, it is because they have not. If they have snowy peaks it is because they want them.’

Macdonald, who had been head of the CPS since 2003, was speaking at the National Black Crown Prosecution Association’s annual conference – One stab, one shot, one life.

He told delegates that the deaths of young people disproportionately affect BME groups and these sections of the community needed engaging to establish their confidence.

‘Communities do not have confidence in the justice system as a direct result of their experiences,’ he said. ‘If they do not have confidence it is because we have failed them in the past.’

Macdonald’s successor as director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, took up the post on Monday.