Trial dates have been set for defendants, including former mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson, charged as part of an investigation into city council corruption.
The 67-year-old and co-defendants, including former politician Derek Hatton and an ex-director and assistant director of Liverpool City Council, appeared at Preston Crown Court on Friday.
Anderson, who was the city’s elected mayor from 2012 to 2021, is charged with bribery, misconduct in a public office and conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office.
The former Labour politician, of Knotty Ash in Liverpool, is alleged to have sent or arranged to have sent “threatening letters” to himself.
The defendants were charged as part of Operation Aloft, launched by Merseyside Police to look into the awarding of commercial and business contracts from the council between 2010 and 2020.
Anderson is also accused of conspiring with his son David Anderson, 37, and the council’s former assistant director of highways and planning Andrew Barr, 51, to arrange special access in a manner to benefit David Anderson and his company SSC.
He did not enter pleas to the charges on Friday.
David Anderson, of Wavertree, Liverpool, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office.
Barr, of Ainsdale, Merseyside, did not enter pleas to the charges of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office and a count of bribery.
Hatton, of Aigburth, Liverpool, who was deputy council leader and part of Labour’s militant faction in the 1980s, pleaded not guilty to offering a bribe.
The 77-year-old, wearing a pale blue suit, is also charged with counselling or procuring misconduct in a public office but did not enter a plea to the charge.
His wife Sonjia Hatton, 49, of Aigburth, did not enter a plea to a charge of misconduct in a public office.
She is accused of providing and seeking confidential council information over matters of commercial and business use to Mr Hatton’s contacts and to his business dealings.
The five defendants are due to stand trial on October 5 2026, with the case expected to last 15 weeks.
The council’s former head of regeneration Nick Kavanagh, 56, and Philippa Cook, 49, both of Mossley Hill, Liverpool, pleaded not guilty to two counts of accepting a bribe.
Julian Flanagan, 53, and Paul Flanagan, 71, both of Knowsley, who founded construction business The Flanagan Group, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to bribe.
They are alleged to have conspired with each other to bribe Kavanagh and Cook between November 2015 and September 2020 by giving them financial or other advantage, including building, decoration or maintenance work, in return for improper performance by Kavanagh in his employment by the council.
James Shalliker, 38, of Downholland, Lancashire, and Adam McClean, 54, of Woolton, are both alleged to have conspired with another man, Mark Doyle, to bribe Kavanagh and Cook with cash, the use of storage, vehicles or vehicle parts and building work.
Both pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to bribe.
A trial for the six defendants was fixed for February 23 next year and is expected to last around 12 weeks.
Alexander Croft, 30, of Aughton, Lancashire, pleaded not guilty to one count of offering a bribe and will stand trial on July 6 next year.
Honorary Recorder of Preston Judge Robert Altham granted all defendants bail.
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