🔗 Share this article The exonerated man on navigating a 'different world' The wrongly convicted man sobbed when the court stated it was throwing out his conviction For someone who's sacrificed nearly 40 years of his life because of a crime he was innocent of, Peter Sullivan maintains a remarkably positive outlook. When I met him last month, for what was his debriefing session since being liberated from prison in May, he was enthusiastic and excited about 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 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, "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 most secure category A prisons where he would be hounded by his tabloid nicknames "Birkenhead's Monster", "The Mersey Ripper" and "Nocturnal Predator". Navigating a Modern World Ahead of our conversation, he was abundant with tales 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 partitioned by the Iron Curtain. He recalled watching the demolition of the Berlin Wall from a communal television in prison. Mr Sullivan explained how trips to the shops now show how "everything's changed" - from trying to understand how self-checkouts work to realising that "instead of having a cheque book, you've got it on your phone". Modern Surprises His incarceration means he has been ignorant of the way so many facets of everyday life have transformed - almost like 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 pick up your money - you're thinking, 'Wow, 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 sitting on a bus shortly after his liberation and saw people using smartphones. He only understood they were phones when he saw someone put one to their ear. Mental Effects Mr Sullivan's 14,000 days in confinement have also led to an inevitable sense of institutionalisation. Phil McCann spoke to Peter Sullivan confidentially in an interview last month He remembered how after his release, one morning in his flat he walked back to his bedroom and positioned himself on his bed, because he was unconsciously waiting for a prison officer to come and lock him back into his cell. "You've got to be at your door at a designated moment, otherwise the officers will discipline you", he said. "I was just sitting there thinking, 'What's happening?'" Demanding Answers 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. "My entire life vanished", he said. "My liberty was taken, I lost my mother since I've been in prison, I've lost my father. "The pain is deep because I was absent for them", he said. "I cannot proceed with my life if I can't get an explanation off them." "That's all I want, an apology [and to understand] the explanation for they've done this to me", he said. Peter Sullivan was convicted of attacking Diane Sindall to death in a "frenzied attack" Police Response Merseyside Police said "minimal advantage to be gained for a review of this matter today" because of "advancements to investigative techniques and progress in the law over the last 40 years". The force did submit some of Mr Sullivan's claims to the police regulatory agency, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now investigate his claims that officers beat him up and intimidated to link him to other crimes if he failed to confess 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 lengthy statement it said: "The force recognizes that there has been a grave miscarriage of justice in this case". Moving Forward Mr Sullivan told me about his basic aspiration - an ambition that he said he had given up of being able to accomplish 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 enjoy my remaining years now". Diane Sindall, 21, was due to be married when she was murdered His prospects may be made less challenging by government compensation, paid to individuals affected of judicial errors. This program is limited at £1.3m, a limit which it is estimated his eventual payout will get very near. But the procedure is not guaranteed, and it is time-consuming. Andrew Malkinson, whose conviction for a rape he was innocent of was dismissed in 2023, was only granted an interim compensation payout 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 surviving a simple existence, with his basic aspirations - although many think he is a future wealthy man. His attorney, Sarah Myatt, said "no sum that you could say that would be sufficient for sacrificing 38 years of your life".