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Considering he who's lost approximately 40 years of his life due to a crime he didn't commit, Peter Sullivan maintains a surprisingly hopeful attitude.

When I met him last month, for what was his first interview since being released from prison in May, he was cheerful and excited about getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the opening match since he was arrested in 1986.

That was the year of the sexual attack murder of Diane Sindall in his home town of Birkenhead - an occurrence he said he was merely aware of because someone approached 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 destined 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", "Merseyside Killer" and "The Wolfman".

Adjusting to a Modern World

Ahead of our conversation, he was rich with anecdotes about how since his release he has had to adapt 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 explained watching the fall of the Berlin Wall from a communal television in prison.

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

Technological Challenges

His imprisonment means he has been ignorant of the way so many elements of everyday life have transformed - similar to someone who has been in hibernation 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 receive your money - you're thinking, 'Amazing, what's going on here?'"

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

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

Psychological Consequences

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

He remembered how after his freedom, 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 must be at your door at a designated moment, otherwise the officers will go off at you", he said.

"I found myself 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 infamous murder that he was innocent of, and a bewilderment about why he still has not had an expression of regret.

"I've lost everything", 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 couldn't be present for them", he said.

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

"My only request, an apology [and to understand] the explanation for they've done this to me", he said.

Authorities Response

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

The force did refer 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 beat him up and warned to link him to other crimes if he failed to confess to Diane Sindall's murder.

When asked if it would apologise, the force did not clearly address the question, but as part of a comprehensive declaration it said: "The force recognizes that there has been a significant injustice of justice in this case".

Future Prospects

Mr Sullivan shared about his simple goal - an ambition that he said he had lost hope of being able to realise at some points over his almost forty years behind bars.

"My only desire to do now is continue with my own life and progress as I was before, and live my time out now".

His life ahead may be made less challenging by government monetary award, paid to wrongly convicted people of miscarriages of justice.

This system is restricted at £1.3m, a limit which it is believed his eventual payout will get very close to.

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

Andrew Malkinson, whose guilty verdict for a rape he had no involvement in was dismissed in 2023, was only given an temporary payment earlier this year.

Guilty prisoners who admit to their crimes and are paroled get a place to live and some support regarding living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an innocent man, is not qualified for that help.

And so he is surviving a modest life, with his modest ambitions - although many consider 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".