The departure of a senior police officer central to the UK’s e-crime strategy has raised fresh concerns over the progress of plans for a national co-ordination unit.

Commander Sue Wilkinson, the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) lead on e-crime, is leaving on a two-year secondment overseas and is unlikely to return to the role, Computing can reveal.

Insiders warn that crucial proposals for a National E-crime Co-ordination Unit (Necu) to plug the gaps in policing of UK cyber crime could stall as a result.

“The unit will inevitably suffer some setbacks as a result of Wilkinson’s departure,” said a senior police source. “My fear is the successor will not have the same drive or lobbying skills.”

The adoption of a central strategy to address electronic crime has been an uphill struggle.

In April 2006 the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU), set up to tackle UK e-crime, was rolled into the newly-established Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca).

But Soca only deals with high-level crime; lower-level activities are not part of its remit.

Five months later, the creation of Necu was mooted to co-ordinate local forces and help to re-establish a focus on mainstream electronic crime such as fraud.

Wilkinson played a central role, both in devising the plan and in securing the necessary funding from the National Policing Improvement Agency (Npia) as well as from the private sector.

The loss of such a central figure does not bode well for tackling the UK’s electronic crime problems, according to security expert Peter Sommer, senior research fellow at the London School of Economics.

“Wilkinson worked hard to remedy the gap left by the disappearance of the NHTCU, and many of us are concerned to see what centralised strategy will now follow,” he said.