£20,000 a job

The professional contact killers used by big-league criminals charge about £20,000 a job. Their ranks are supplemented by part-time killers whose main source of income is from violent crimes such as robbery. These part-timers would get about £10,000 for a killing. At the bottom end of the scale are the murderers who work for drug gangs, often selling crack cocaine. They can be paid as little as £200 to shoot a rival.