HUNDREDS of warrants have been issued for accused criminals not turning up for court, figures reveal.
Dumbarton Sheriff Court hands out dozens of warrants a month when someone doesn't attend, draining court and police resources.
Projections for the current year expect the number of warrants to be the highest in seven years.
If someone has multiple cases in front of the court, there are fresh warrants triggered for each one for a missed court date.
The expected total for 2025-26 will be 427 warrants at summary level, 12 at solemn.
Nationally there are expected to be nearly 20,000 warrants issued for an accused failing to appear.
They contribute substantially to delays in the justice system.
But witnesses not present for trials in front of a sheriff also cause delays. Last year, more than a quarter of trials had to be adjourned because a witness was absent or hadn't been formally cited to attend. The estimate for 2025-26 is projected to be much higher at 43%.
That is still much better than the national figure of 61%.
Once convicted, a single criminal can get multiple court orders as punishments or "disposals", such as a community payback order (CPO), non-harassment order (NHO), or being added to the sex offenders register.
More serious cases are heard at solemn (sheriff and jury) and less serious at summary (sheriff only) levels.
In total there are projected to be 279 custodial sentences this year. Another 480 community payback orders will be handed out.
Dumbarton Sheriff Court covers one of the worst parts of Scotland for domestic abuse. And frequently the survivors get the protection of non-harassment orders to ban contact from ex-partners.
The projection for 2025-26 is 150 non-harassment orders at summary and solumn levels - the highest number in seven years.
Meanwhile, the number of people added to the sex offenders register is also projected to nearly double in 2025-26 to 83, up from 50 each of the last two years.
That is a small number of the 2,743 total disposals at Dumbarton Sheriff Court.
There are expected to be 310 "DVLA-related" disposals - that can include full driving bans or penalty points.
A Scottish Police Authority report in December said "less people attending court" was contributing to the more than 10,000 outstanding warrants and pressure on police resources.
They said there had been a 22% increase in warrants received between 2023 and 2025.
A spokesperson for Police Scotland said: "All arrest warrants are prioritised according to threat, risk and harm. “We deploy local and national, specialist resources and intelligence techniques to locate those who pose the greatest risk of harm and threat to communities and apprehend them.
“Some individuals will have committed multiple offences, and have more than one arrest warrant issued against them by the courts.
“Those facing arrest should be aware we’ll follow all lines of inquiry and use all resources to locate them as soon as possible.”
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