Treating the consequences of violence in Scotland cost an estimated £400 million per year – and that’s just NHS health costs.

• A serious assault is estimated to cost the justice system £19,000 each time.
• A murder is estimated to cost £1.3million per incidence to the criminal justice system.

Criminal costs

• A person arrested for a serious charge such as attempted murder or murder would cost an expected £385 per day in police custody.
• A high court trial, with a jury and ‘not guilty’ plea from the accused, would cost an estimated £95,372 per trial.
• An estimated £37,000 is spent annually on imprisoning a single convicted person.

The overall costs for a high court trial and 25-year imprisonment for a person convicted of murder would pass a staggering £1million.

Victim costs

• An ambulance call-out costs an average £244.
• Attendance in an A&E department costs on average £190.
• A hospital admission would cost an average of £569 per day.
• Life-saving surgery is estimated to cost an average of £3,138 for each surgery needed.

Longer term costs are much harder to estimate – victims of violence often require long-term support with physical symptoms from their injuries, or psychological support to help them live with the stressors and traumas of events they have been subjected to.