Taxpayers foot £4m jury bill

TAXPAYERS are forking out more than £4 million every year to pay jury expenses.

It is feared the bill could rise even further if plans to close down almost one third of sheriff courts across Scotland are given the go-ahead.

In the last year alone, a total of £4.4m was paid to jurors attending trials at Scotland’s courts.

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The Court of Session in Edinburgh also paid out £277,650 in expenses to its jurors.

Over the last three years, the Scottish Court Service has paid out a total of £13.6m to cover jurors’ travel, loss of earnings, food and childminding costs.

Robert Oxley, campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Juries are an important part of our legal system and there will always be costs involved.”

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