The legal means used to prosecute Stephen Lawrence's killers will increase convictions against antisemitic attackers, according to a chief prosecutor.

Nazir Afzal, head of the North West's Crown Prosecution Service, said those involved in group attacks on Jews now faced prosecution as part of a "joint enterprise" - "even if it was difficult for prosecutors to prove who actually committed the attack".

He said the legal argument had already helped convict drivers whose vehicles were used to launch a recent spate of egg attacks on Orthodox Jews in Salford.

"In the Lawrence case we didn't know if these two men did the stabbing, but they were part of the group. In these antisemitic attacks the driver was just as guilty as the person throwing the eggs," Mr Afzal told Manchester's Jewish Rep Council on Sunday. He added: "When it comes to antisemitism it must always be in the public interest to prosecute, and that is what we intend to do."