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For someone who's lost nearly 40 years of his life as a result of a crime he was innocent of, Peter Sullivan strikes a unusually optimistic attitude.

During our encounter last month, for what was his first interview since being freed from prison in May, he was enthusiastic and looking forward to 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 violent killing of Diane Sindall in his local community of Birkenhead - an occurrence he said he was merely aware of because someone spoke to him in a pub at the time and said, "apparently there's been a murder".

When he was convicted the following year at Liverpool Crown Court - he was destined to a indefinite period in some of Britain's toughest category A prisons where he would be persecuted by his tabloid nicknames "The Beast of Birkenhead", "River Mersey Murderer" and "Nocturnal Predator".

Adjusting to a Transformed World

Ahead of our conversation, he was abundant with tales about how since his release he has had to adjust to a completely different world.

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

He recalled watching the collapse of the Berlin Wall from a communal television in prison.

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

Technological Challenges

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

"Following so long in prison and learning 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, 'Goodness, what's going on here?'"

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

He first became knowledgeable about them when he was sitting on a bus shortly after his release and saw people twiddling with smartphones. He only recognized they were phones when he saw someone put one to their ear.

Psychological Effects

Mr Sullivan's 14,000 days in confinement have also led to an inevitable sense of institutionalisation.

He described how after his liberation, one morning in his flat he returned to his bedroom and settled 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 designated moment, otherwise the officers will discipline you", he said.

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

Seeking Answers

But Mr Sullivan's positivity is tempered by a longing for answers about how he came to be charged with an infamous murder that he had no part in, and a bewilderment about why he still has not had an expression of regret.

"My entire life vanished", he said.

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

"It pains me because I was absent for them", he said.

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

"The sole thing I need, an apology [and to understand] the explanation for they've done this to me", he said.

Authorities Position

Merseyside Police said "minimal advantage to be gained for a reassessment of this matter today" because of "the changes to investigative techniques and improvements in the law over the last 40 years".

The force did forward some of Mr Sullivan's accusations to the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now examine his claims that officers physically abused him and warned to link him to other crimes if he refused to admit to Diane Sindall's murder.

When asked if it would express regret, the force did not clearly address the question, but as part of a detailed response it said: "The force recognizes that there has been a serious failure of justice in this case".

Moving Forward

Mr Sullivan explained about his modest ambition - an ambition that he said he had given up of being able to realise at some points over his approximately 38 years behind bars.

"All I want to do now is get on with my own life and move forward as I was before, and live my time out now".

His life ahead may be made easier by government financial payment, paid to individuals affected of miscarriages of justice.

This system is restricted at £1.3m, a cap which it is thought his resulting award will get very close to.

But the process is not guaranteed, and it is lengthy.

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

Guilty prisoners who admit to their crimes and are freed get a accommodation and some support regarding living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an exonerated person, is not qualified for that help.

And so he is surviving a modest life, with his humble goals - although many believe he is a compensation recipient.

His legal representative, Sarah Myatt, said "there's not a figure that you could say that would be adequate for losing 38 years of your life".