Second senior official defects from SFO

The Serious Fraud Office has suffered another blow, with the move of Andrew Jackson, head of mutual legal assistance, to private investigations company Kroll Associates, where he will be appointed general counsel and associate managing director of UK operations.

Jackson said: "One of the reasons I joined Kroll was to get away from the raincoat and long-lens camera image of the private investigator."

Jackson's is the second high-profile departure, after that of fellow barrister Chris Dickson last December.

Dickson was a senior assistant director at the SFO effectively number two to director Rosalind Wright but left to become executive counsel to the chartered accountants' Joint Disciplinary Scheme last year.

One ex-SFO lawyer told The Lawyer that the "tragic" loss of Jackson was due to the chronic underfunding of the SFO, adding: "While this continues the SFO will bleed away people that they can ill-afford to lose."

However, the source said that this was not a criticism of Wright, for whom there was "a lot of support".