Julian Assange gripen

For those who disrupt their case by failing to attend earlier hearings, most should be punished with a fine, rising to a community order in more serous cases.

Only at the top end is a starting point of six weeks in jail suggested - where deliberate bail-jumping leads to a trial being adjourned and witnesses sent away, or the missing offender avoids a hefty sentence.

The courts are urged to take into account a bail-jumper's state of mind when passing sentence, and

to try to judge their "underlying intention" in failing to attend court.

A "chaotic lifestyle" such as drugs or alcohol addiction can be treated as "personal mitigation", the guidelines state.

Shadow Home Secretary, David Davis, said:

"Defendants who refuse to turn up to court must be properly punished.

"Softening the penalties sends out the wrong signal and weakens our justice system.

"This is yet another consequence of the prison overcrowding crisis, yet another problem of this government's own making."

Last year the Home Office announced plans to tighten up bail rules following concern that too many bail-jumpers are simply given another date to attend court.

New rules would see more serious or repeat offenders given no-bail warrants and locked up to await trial.

Critics fear such a crackdown will be undermined if the courts are then told to hand out community sentences for most bail-jumping offences.

BREAKING: Assange has been arrested for extradition to the United States for publishing.