Thousands of criminals are escaping justice because they are not re-arrested when they fail to turn up at court, it was disclosed yesterday.

Almost 150,000 defendants a year ignore summonses to the criminal courts and some are never caught, MPs said. Warrants are always issued for people who fail to attend court but only 45 per cent of absconders are arrested within three months.
The figures were published by the Commons public accounts committee, which called for a crackdown.