The exonerated man on living in a 'changed world'

For someone who's sacrificed approximately 40 years of his life because of a crime he didn't commit, Peter Sullivan maintains a unusually positive tone.

When I met him last month, for what was his first interview since being released from prison in May, he was upbeat and eagerly anticipating getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the first time since he was taken into custody in 1986.

That was the year of the sexual attack murder of Diane Sindall in his local community of Birkenhead - an incident he said he had limited information regarding because someone turned to him in a pub at the time and said, "reportedly there's been a murder".

When he was found guilty the following year at Liverpool Crown Court - he was sentenced to a lifetime in some of Britain's most secure category A prisons where he would be hounded by his tabloid nicknames "The Wirral Predator", "Merseyside Killer" and "Lunar Killer".

Adjusting to a Modern World

Ahead of our conversation, he was abundant with tales about how since his release he has had to acclimate to a fundamentally altered world.

When he was taken into custody, Margaret Thatcher was in Downing Street, the concept of the internet and Europe was still divided by the Iron Curtain.

He described watching the fall of the Berlin Wall from a shared television in prison.

Mr Sullivan described how trips to the shops now show how "society has evolved" - from trying to figure out how self-checkouts function to realising that "instead of having a cheque book, you've got it on your phone".

Modern Surprises

His confinement means he has been ignorant of the way so many elements of everyday life have transformed - almost like someone who has been unconscious since the 1980s.

"Having endured so long in prison and discovering there's no DHSS [Department of Health and Social Security, now the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)] where you can pick up your money - you're thinking, 'Amazing, what's going on here?'"

He now has a mobile device, after discovering doctor's appointments need to be arranged on something he now knows is called an 'application'.

He first became familiar with them when he was riding on a bus shortly after his liberation and saw people using smartphones. He only recognized they were phones when he saw someone put one to their ear.

Mental Impact

Mr Sullivan's 14,000 days in confinement have also led to an unavoidable sense of system dependency.

He recalled how after his release, one morning in his flat he went back to his bedroom and sat down on his bed, because he was subconsciously waiting for a prison officer to come and secure him into his cell.

"You've got to be at your door at a specific hour, otherwise the officers will yell at you", he said.

"I remained thinking, 'What am I doing?'"

Desiring Explanation

But Mr Sullivan's hope is balanced by a longing for answers about how he came to be charged with an notorious murder that he didn't commit, and a bewilderment about why he still has not had an apology.

"Everything is gone", he said.

"I lost all my freedom, I lost my mother since I've been in prison, I've lost my father.

"The pain is deep because I couldn't be present for them", he said.

"I can't carry on with my life if I can't get an response off them."

"That's all I want, an apology [and to understand] the explanation for they've done this to me", he said.

Police Position

Merseyside Police said "there would be little benefit to be gained for a review of this matter today" because of "developments to investigative techniques and progress in the law over the last 40 years".

The force did submit some of Mr Sullivan's claims to the police regulatory agency, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now investigate his claims that officers assaulted him and threatened to link him to other crimes if he refused to admit to Diane Sindall's murder.

When asked if it would issue an apology, the force did not specifically respond the question, but as part of a lengthy statement it said: "The force recognizes that there has been a serious failure of justice in this case".

Future Prospects

Mr Sullivan explained about his modest ambition - an ambition that he said he had abandoned expectation of being able to achieve at some points over his almost forty years behind bars.

"The sole objective to do now is continue with my own life and progress as I was before, and experience freedom now".

His future may be made less challenging by government financial payment, paid to wrongly convicted people of wrongful convictions.

This scheme is restricted at £1.3m, a cap which it is thought his eventual payout will get very close to.

But the procedure is not guaranteed, and it is time-consuming.

Andrew Malkinson, whose conviction for a rape he had no involvement in was overturned in 2023, was only awarded an interim compensation payout earlier this year.

Convicted criminals who acknowledge their crimes and are freed get a housing and some help with living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an innocent man, is not qualified for that help.

And so he is living a simple existence, with his humble goals - although many think he is a millionaire in waiting.

His attorney, Sarah Myatt, said "no amount that you could say that would be sufficient for forfeiting 38 years of your life".