A shake-up of joint enterprise legislation - used to convict the killers of teenagers Stephen Lawrence, Shakilus Townsend and many others - could be needed in murder cases to stop "minor" players spending life in prison for another person's crime, a group of MPs has said.

The Justice Committee wants the Government's law reform advisers to consider scrapping the rule that in a joint-enterprise murder it is not possible to charge secondary figures - who did not encourage or assist the crime - with a lesser offence such as manslaughter but only with murder.

Joint enterprise law allows for several people to be charged with the same offence, even though they may have played different roles in the crime. While it can apply to all offences, it has recently been used as a way to prosecute murder - especially in cases involving gangs of young men.

High-profile cases where the law was used included that of David Norris and Gary Dobson, who were convicted under joint enterprise for the 1993 murder of Stephen Lawrence. Mr Lawrence was stabbed to death by a gang of youths in a racially-motivated murder at a bus stop in Eltham when he was 18.

It also saw seven teenagers imprisoned for the Deptford murder of Shakilus Townsend in 2009 - including Brockley 15-year-old Samantha Joseph, who acted as a "honeytrap" to entice Shakilus to the crime scene, where he was beaten with a baseball bat, kicked and stabbed to death by a hooded gang.

Gloria Morrison from campaign group Joint Enterprise: Not Guilty By Association, said Joseph had been "vilified" and portrayed as the "epitome of evil" and a "baby-faced killer".

She said: "Whatever people say about her, she did not kill Shakilus. In her case, charge her for what she actually did - she aided and abetted."

Ms Morrison went on: "This is vindicating our campaign that joint enterprise is being abused. We're pleased about that - it's been a long and hard battle.

She added: "In lots of our cases, people have just been given a mandatory life sentence for a phonecall. That's why it's so dangerous."

The group of MPs has now called for the Law Commission to undertake an urgent review of the law of joint enterprise in murder cases.

Committee chair Sir Alan Beith said: "The mandatory life sentence for murder means that an individual can be convicted and given a life sentence without the prosecution having to demonstrate that they had any intention of murder or serious bodily harm being committed, and where their involvement in a murder committed by someone else was minor and peripheral."

The Committee also found that a large proportion of those convicted of joint enterprise offences are young black and mixed race men.

Research seen by the committee showed 37.2 per cent of those serving long sentences for joint enterprise offences are black/black British, 11 times the proportion of black/black British people in the general population and almost three times as many as in the overall prison population.

There is also a higher proportion of mixed race prisoners convicted of joint enterprise offences than there are in the general prison population.

Sir Alan said: "It is noticeable that black and mixed race young men are disproportionately represented among those convicted under joint enterprise.

"Some have argued that the doctrine has an important effect in deterring young people from getting involved in criminal gang activities, but others are sceptical about this.

"We say in our report that there is a real danger in justifying the joint enterprise doctrine on the basis that it sends a signal or delivers a wider social message, rather than on the basis that it is necessary to ensure people are found guilty of offences in accordance with the law as it stands."

Justice Minister Mike Penning said: "Joint enterprise law has enabled some of the most serious offenders to be brought to justice. It ensures that if a crime is committed by two or more people, all those involved can potentially be charged and convicted of that offence.

"Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the courts.

"We will look carefully at the Justice Committee recommendations and will respond formally in due course."