Former Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson and deputy leader Derek Hatton charged in council corruption probe

The 67-year-old Anderson, who was first arrested in December 2020, has been charged with bribery, misconduct in a public office and conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office, Merseyside Police said on Friday.

Hatton, 77, who was deputy leader of Liverpool City Council in the 1980s, has been charged with bribery and one count of counsel or procure misconduct in a public office.

Anderson’s son David Anderson, 37, of Wavertree, is charged with conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office.

Sonjia Hatton, 49, of Aigburth, has been charged with one count of misconduct in a public office.

The charges are part of Operation Aloft, which was launched by police to look into the the awarding of commercial and business contracts from Liverpool City Council between 2010 and 2020.

Andrew Barr, formerly the council’s assistant director of highways and planning, 51, of Ainsdale, Merseyside, is charged with conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office and bribery. The council’s former head of regeneration Nick Kavanagh, 56, of Mossley Hill, Liverpool, has been charged with two counts of bribery.

Also charged are Phillipa Cook, 49, of Mossley Hill, Liverpool, who faces two counts of bribery and Alex Croft, 29, of Aughton, Lancashire, who is charged with one count of bribery.

Julian Flanagan, 53, of Crosby; Paul Flanagan, 61, of Knowsley Village; Adam McLean, 54, of Woolton; and James Shalliker, 38, of Downholland, Lancashire, and are all charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.

A spokesman for Merseyside Police said all 12 were due to appear at Preston Magistrates’ Court on March 28.