🔗 Share this article The exonerated man on navigating a 'changed world' Peter Sullivan sobbed when the court declared it was overturning his guilty verdict Considering he who's sacrificed nearly 40 years of his life due to a crime he was innocent of, Peter Sullivan projects a unusually optimistic tone. In our conversation last month, for what was his initial media appearance since being liberated 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 brutal homicide of Diane Sindall in his home town of Birkenhead - an incident he said he had limited information regarding because someone approached 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 extended term in some of Britain's most secure category A prisons where he would be tormented by his tabloid nicknames "Birkenhead's Monster", "Merseyside Killer" and "Nocturnal Predator". Adapting to a Transformed World Prior to our discussion, he was abundant with tales about how since his release he has had to adapt to a radically changed world. When he was arrested, Margaret Thatcher was in Downing Street, no one had heard of the internet and Europe was still divided by the Iron Curtain. He explained watching the demolition of the Berlin Wall from a shared television in prison. Mr Sullivan described how trips to the shops now show how "the world has transformed" - from trying to work out how self-checkouts work to realising that "in place of having a cheque book, you've got it on your phone". Digital Surprises His confinement means he has been unaware of the way so many facets of everyday life have transformed - similar to someone who has been unconscious 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 pick up your money - you're thinking, 'Goodness, what's going on here?'" He now has a mobile device, after finding out doctor's appointments need to be arranged 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 freedom and saw people operating smartphones. He only understood they were phones when he saw someone put one to their ear. Psychological Consequences Mr Sullivan's 14,000 days in prison have also led to an unavoidable sense of institutionalisation. Phil McCann spoke to Peter Sullivan confidentially in an interview last month He described how after his release, one morning in his flat he went back to his bedroom and sat down on his bed, because he was automatically waiting for a prison officer to come and confine him into his cell. "You've got to be at your door at a specific hour, otherwise the officers will discipline you", he said. "I remained thinking, 'What's happening?'" Seeking Answers But Mr Sullivan's hope is tempered by a longing for answers about how he was charged with an high-profile murder that he didn't commit, and a confusion about why he still has not had an apology. "Everything is gone", he said. "Freedom disappeared, I lost my mother since I've been in prison, I've lost my father. "It hurts because I was absent for them", he said. "It's impossible to continue 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. Peter Sullivan was sentenced of assaulting Diane Sindall to death in a "violent assault" Police Position Merseyside Police said "minimal advantage to be gained for a reassessment of this matter today" because of "developments to investigative techniques and progress in the law over the last 40 years". The force did forward some of Mr Sullivan's accusations to the police regulatory agency, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now investigate his claims that officers assaulted him and intimidated to link him to other crimes if he didn't plead guilty to Diane Sindall's murder. When asked if it would apologise, the force did not directly answer the question, but as part of a lengthy statement it said: "The force regrets that there has been a significant injustice of justice in this case". Looking Ahead Mr Sullivan shared about his simple goal - an ambition that he said he had lost hope of being able to accomplish at some points over his almost forty years behind bars. "My only desire to do now is get on with my own life and move forward as I was before, and enjoy my remaining years now". Diane Sindall, 21, was planning her wedding when she was murdered His future may be made more manageable by government financial payment, paid to individuals affected of judicial errors. This scheme is capped at £1.3m, a maximum which it is thought his eventual payout will get very close to. But the procedure is not automatic, and it is lengthy. Andrew Malkinson, whose sentence for a rape he did not commit was overturned in 2023, was only granted an provisional award earlier this year. Admitted offenders who admit to their crimes and are released get a housing and some support regarding living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an wrongly convicted individual, is not qualified for that help. And so he is living a basic lifestyle, 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 sufficient for forfeiting 38 years of your life".