This[0] from 2016 shows 13,500 outstanding cases of those "who skipped court bail while facing charges including murder, child sex offences and rape" in the UK.
It appears that Assange can be tried for "Bail, failure to surrender"[1][2]. (Maximum 3 months sentence unless sent for trial.) I'm not aware that he's be charged with anything else, so, on the face of it, the money could have been more usefully dispersed to protect the public.
> The resource-usage is wasteful to the point of irresponsible.
Agreed, but that's not how the law works. The law should prosecute everybody they have on their lists, regardless of the economics, it should be a matter of principle rather than one of cost-benefit analysis.
Not saying that this isn't how it often turns out to be, but that's how it should be.
The resource-usage is wasteful to the point of irresponsible.