Former Labour firebrand Derek Hatton and his wife have formally denied charges of misconduct in a public office during a court hearing in Manchester. The case is part of a wider police investigation into the awarding of Liverpool City Council contracts.
Court Appearance and Charges Denied
Derek Hatton, 77, and Sonjia Hatton, 50, appeared at Manchester Crown Court on Thursday, 18 December 2025. Mr Hatton, of Mossley Hill, Liverpool, pleaded not guilty to a single charge of counselling or procuring misconduct in a public office.
His wife, from Aigburth, Liverpool, also entered a not guilty plea to a charge of misconduct in a public office. She is accused of providing her husband with confidential council information for commercial and business use.
This follows an earlier not guilty plea by Derek Hatton earlier this year to a separate charge of offering a bribe.
A Controversial Political History
The court appearance marks another chapter in the long and contentious public life of Derek Hatton. He was a leading member of the Militant tendency, a far-left group that infiltrated the Labour Party in the 1970s and 80s.
In 1983, he became deputy leader of the Militant-led Liverpool City Council. The council famously set an illegal budget in 1985, deliberately spending more than its income in a political stand against the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher.
Then-Labour leader Neil Kinnock famously attacked the council's "grotesque chaos" in his 1985 party conference speech. Hatton was expelled from the Labour Party in 1986 for breaching party rules. He was briefly readmitted in 2019 before being suspended again days later.
The Wider Operation Aloft Trial
The Hattons are not standing trial alone. They were bailed on Thursday to face trial in April 2027 alongside several other defendants.
The co-accused include:
- Joe Anderson, 67, the former Mayor of Liverpool, who denies charges of bribery, misconduct in a public office and conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office.
- His son, David Anderson, 38, who denies conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office.
- Andrew Barr, 51, the council's former assistant director of highways and planning, who denies conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office and accepting a bribe.
All charges stem from Operation Aloft, a long-running Merseyside Police investigation. The probe examined the awarding of commercial and business contracts by Liverpool City Council between 2010 and 2020.
Six other defendants charged in connection with the same investigation are scheduled to stand trial in February of next year.
