The Attorney General has shot angry fire over claims NSW's best prosecutors were learning how to shoot at an expensive conference as courts were underfunded and understaffed.

TWENTY of New South Wales' best prosecutors were learning how to shoot machine guns at a conference costing NSW taxpayers $110,000, yet just two weeks later the courts were left unattended because of a lack of money and staff, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Attorney-General John Hatzistergos is outraged by details of the conference and he "levelled a stunning attack" on NSW chief prosecutor Nicholas Cowdery, claiming he is not capable of managing his $100 million budget and 600 staff.

Cowdery, meanwhile, has rejected the claims.

The A-G has ordered an urgent inquiry into why the Director of Public Prosecutions failed to supply staff for court sittings in the Hunter and New England, citing a lack of money, so soon after allowing a quarter of his prosecutors to attend the conference, the newspaper reports.
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