FEWER than one in five black or Asian people who appear in crown court feel they are treated unfairly because of the colour of their skin, a study has claimed.

The report on ethnic minorities' perceptions of how they were treated by the judicial system showed black people were more likely to believe they had suffered prejudice.

Among Asians, the figure was even lower at 18%.

The numbers who said they had been treated unfairly for any reason were about the same across all white and ethnic groups - about a third.

In the magistrates' courts, claims of racial bias were less widespread, with one in 10 black defendants and one in eight Asians telling researchers they thought they had been dealt with unfairly because of their race.

"The complaints were mostly about what people thought were excessive sentences compared with what they thought a white defendant would receive," said Professor Roger Hood, author of the report Ethnic Minorities in the Criminal Courts.

Very few said racism was explicit in the conduct of the bench - 3% in crown court and 1% in magistrates' court.

More than 1,200 people were interviewed for the survey led by Prof Hood and Prof Stephen Shute, including 778 defendants.

Witnesses were also interviewed, and here none of the 68 people from ethnic minorities who said they had been treated unfairly in the crown courts said it was because of their colour.

In the magistrates' courts, only 7% of blacks and Asians who felt they had been treated unfairly said it was because of racial bias.

Many people felt they had been treated unfairly because they "feel the system must be biased somehow", said Prof Hood.

Of black lawyers questioned for the report, 43% believed there was always equal treatment of ethnic minorities by the courts.

Just 28% of black court staff believed minorities were always treated the same as other groups.

Most white court staff (98%) and Asian court staff (71%) thought courts were fair regardless of race. Among white lawyers the figure was 69% and among Asian lawyers it was 63%.