The exonerated man on navigating a 'different reality'

For someone who's sacrificed nearly 40 years of his life because of a crime he didn't commit, Peter Sullivan projects a surprisingly optimistic attitude.

When I met him last month, for what was his initial media appearance since being released from prison in May, he was enthusiastic and looking forward to getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the opening match since he was arrested in 1986.

That was the year of the violent killing 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, "allegedly there's been a murder".

When he was convicted the following year at Liverpool Crown Court - he was condemned to a lifetime in some of Britain's most secure category A prisons where he would be persecuted by his tabloid nicknames "Birkenhead's Monster", "River Mersey Murderer" and "Nocturnal Predator".

Adapting to a Digital World

Before our interview, he was rich with anecdotes about how since his freedom he has had to adjust to a fundamentally altered world.

When he was detained, Margaret Thatcher was in Downing Street, no one had heard of the internet and Europe was still partitioned by the Iron Curtain.

He described watching the collapse of the Berlin Wall from a public television in prison.

Mr Sullivan explained how trips to the shops now show how "society has evolved" - from trying to understand how self-checkouts work to realising that "rather than having a cheque book, you've got it on your phone".

Digital Adjustments

His incarceration means he has been unaware of the way so many aspects of everyday life have evolved - similar to someone who has been asleep since the 1980s.

"After spending 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 collect your money - you're thinking, 'Goodness, what's going on here?'"

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

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

Emotional Impact

Mr Sullivan's 14,000 days in prison have also led to an predictable sense of prison conditioning.

He remembered how after his freedom, one morning in his flat he walked back to his bedroom and positioned himself on his bed, because he was subconsciously waiting for a prison officer to come and lock him back into his cell.

"It's required to be at your door at a specific hour, otherwise the officers will yell at you", he said.

"I found myself thinking, 'Why am I here?'"

Desiring Answers

But Mr Sullivan's optimism is tempered by a longing for answers about how he came to be charged with an notorious murder that he didn't commit, and a perplexity about why he still has not had an admission of error.

"My entire life vanished", he said.

"Freedom disappeared, I lost my mother since I've been in prison, I've lost my father.

"It pains me 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 reason why they've done this to me", he said.

Law Enforcement Statement

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 refer some of Mr Sullivan's allegations to the police regulatory agency, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now examine his claims that officers beat him up and warned 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 comprehensive declaration it said: "The force regrets that there has been a grave miscarriage of justice in this case".

Future Prospects

Mr Sullivan explained about his modest ambition - an ambition that he said he had given up of being able to achieve at some points over his nearly four decades behind bars.

"The sole objective to do now is get on with my own life and progress as I was before, and enjoy my remaining years now".

His life ahead may be made more manageable by government monetary award, paid to individuals affected of judicial errors.

This program is limited at £1.3m, a cap which it is believed his resulting award will get very approach.

But the procedure is not immediate, and it is protracted.

Andrew Malkinson, whose guilty verdict for a rape he did not commit was dismissed in 2023, was only granted an temporary payment earlier this year.

Convicted criminals who confess to their crimes and are paroled get a accommodation and some support regarding living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an wrongly convicted individual, is not entitled to that help.

And so he is surviving a basic lifestyle, with his basic aspirations - although many think he is a millionaire in waiting.

His attorney, Sarah Myatt, said "there's not a figure that you could say that would be enough for forfeiting 38 years of your life".