A warrant to arrest has been issued for a 17-year-old Clyde man charged with injuring two teens with a heated lighter after he failed to appear in court this afternoon.

Judge Stephen O'Driscoll issued the warrant after Daniel Trevor Nelson failed to appear in Alexandra District Court when his named was called at 1pm.

Nelson was charged with disfiguring unsuspecting young people, burning them with a heated cigarette lighter after they had fallen asleep at parties between October 1 and November 30.

He targeting the head and face of the victims who were left with burns in the shape of a crescent, referred to as a "smiley".

Detective Sergeant Derek Shaw , of Alexandra, said this morning police amended the charges Nelson faced from injuring with the intent to disfigure to injuring with the intent to injure.

The changes were made because injuring with intent to disfigure charges were indictable and would go straight to trial, Mr Shaw said.

Central Otago police have arrested a 17-year-old Alexandra man for allegedly disfiguring others.