A CLYDEBANK man who attacked two cops has avoided a jail sentence - because he spent too much time locked up.

William Burns was on remand in prison for more than 11 months waiting for his case to be dealt with.

Because criminals have only served half of their sentences since the 1980s, that means it is equivalent to 23 months in custody.

Sheriff Maxwell Hendry told Burns at Dumbarton Sheriff Court that his hands were tied: the man should be jailed, but couldn't be.

The 35-year-old previously pleaded guilty to assaulting one officer by trying to headbutt him, and another by trying to kick him on the body.

He struggled violently with both and also shouted, swore and uttered offensive remarks in the incident on April 12, 2022 in a property in Granville Street, Clydebank.

Burns, listed in court papers as a prisoner of Low Moss, was given a community payback order and a curfew as an alternative to jail. But he broke both of those.

He returned to the court from custody on July 19, Sheriff Hendry raised the issue of a supervised release order. He wanted to put the man in prison, then ensure he wouldn't disappear or fail to get community support for his addictions once free.

The sheriff said: "My concern here is that Mr Burns should not be re-admitted to the community, perhaps at all, without some sort of supervision."

The criminal's defence solicitor said her client wanted to get off drugs and wanted help.

Sheriff Hendry said he wouldn't give Burns credit for pleading guilty given he broke court orders.

But he was "required to give him credit for effectively 23 months" on remand.

He added, "I'm trying to find a way to square the circle" as he paused.

Turning to Burns, he said: "What I want to do is send you to prison for quite a long time and then have you supervised.

"The problem is you have spent so long on remand, that I cannot impose a meaningful sentence that will allow me to put you on supervised release.

"I'm backed into a corner."

He said the "only approach" he could see was to release Burns on bail and order him to be of good behaviour for a month. He will be under electronically monitored curfew from 7pm to 7am daily.

But he added: "This is not what I want to do, it's what I feel is the only option available to me.

"In one sense, I'm waiting for you to do something stupid and if you do, I will have increased powers."

The past community-based orders were revoked and Burns will return to court next month.