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Considering he who's sacrificed nearly 40 years of his life as a result of a crime he was innocent of, Peter Sullivan strikes a surprisingly hopeful outlook.

In our conversation last month, for what was his initial media appearance since being liberated from prison in May, he was cheerful and eagerly anticipating getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the first time since he was arrested in 1986.

That was the year of the brutal homicide of Diane Sindall in his birthplace of Birkenhead - an occurrence he said he had limited information regarding because someone spoke to him in a pub at the time and said, "reportedly there's been a murder".

When he was convicted the following year at Liverpool Crown Court - he was condemned to a extended term in some of Britain's highest-security category A prisons where he would be persecuted by his tabloid nicknames "Birkenhead's Monster", "The Mersey Ripper" and "Lunar Killer".

Adjusting to a Modern World

Ahead of our conversation, he was rich with anecdotes about how since his exoneration he has had to adjust to a fundamentally altered world.

When he was detained, Margaret Thatcher was in Downing Street, few knew about the internet and Europe was still separated by the Iron Curtain.

He explained watching the demolition of the Berlin Wall from a shared television in prison.

Mr Sullivan told me how trips to the shops now show how "everything's changed" - from trying to work out how self-checkouts function to realising that "instead of having a cheque book, you've got it on your phone".

Digital Adjustments

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

"Having endured so long in prison and finding out 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, 'Wow, what's going on here?'"

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

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

Emotional Effects

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

He recalled how after his liberation, one morning in his flat he returned to his bedroom and settled on his bed, because he was automatically 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 go off at you", he said.

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

Seeking Closure

But Mr Sullivan's hope is balanced by a yearning for answers about how he ended up being charged with an notorious murder that he was innocent of, and a bewilderment about why he still has not had an admission of error.

"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.

"It pains me because I wasn't there for them", he said.

"I cannot proceed with my life if I can't get an explanation off them."

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

Police Response

Merseyside Police said "limited value to be gained for a re-examination of this matter today" because of "the changes 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 oversight body, 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 specifically respond the question, but as part of a lengthy statement it said: "The force recognizes that there has been a significant injustice of justice in this case".

Future Prospects

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

"My only desire to do now is continue with my own life and move forward as I was before, and experience freedom now".

His life ahead may be made more manageable by government compensation, paid to victims of miscarriages of justice.

This system is restricted at £1.3m, a limit which it is estimated his final compensation will get very near.

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

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

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

And so he is living a simple existence, with his modest ambitions - although many believe he is a future wealthy man.

His lawyer, Sarah Myatt, said "no amount that you could say that would be enough for losing 38 years of your life".