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For someone who's sacrificed nearly 40 years of his life as a result of a crime he didn't commit, Peter Sullivan projects a unusually positive outlook.

In our conversation 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 violent killing of Diane Sindall in his birthplace of Birkenhead - an incident 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 lifetime in some of Britain's toughest category A prisons where he would be hounded by his tabloid nicknames "The Beast of Birkenhead", "River Mersey Murderer" and "The Wolfman".

Adapting to a Transformed World

Prior to our discussion, he was abundant with tales about how since his exoneration he has had to acclimate to a fundamentally altered world.

When he was taken into custody, Margaret Thatcher was in Downing Street, the concept of the internet and Europe was still divided by the Iron Curtain.

He described watching the demolition 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 work out how self-checkouts operate to realising that "in place of having a cheque book, you've got it on your phone".

Modern Surprises

His imprisonment means he has been oblivious to the way so many aspects of everyday life have evolved - almost like 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 receive your money - you're thinking, 'Wow, what's going on here?'"

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

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

Psychological Consequences

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

He recalled how after his release, 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 lock him back into his cell.

"You must be at your door at a specific hour, otherwise the officers will discipline you", he said.

"I remained thinking, 'Why am I here?'"

Seeking Explanation

But Mr Sullivan's optimism is mixed with a desire 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 apology.

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

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

Law Enforcement Statement

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

The force did submit some of Mr Sullivan's allegations to the police regulatory agency, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now look at 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 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 serious failure 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 realise at some points over his approximately 38 years behind bars.

"The sole objective to do now is continue with my own life and move forward as I was before, and experience freedom now".

His prospects may be made less challenging by government monetary award, paid to victims of judicial errors.

This scheme is limited at £1.3m, a limit which it is estimated his eventual payout will get very near.

But the system is not automatic, and it is protracted.

Andrew Malkinson, whose sentence for a rape he had no involvement in was quashed in 2023, was only granted an provisional award earlier this year.

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

And so he is surviving a basic lifestyle, with his basic aspirations - although many think he is a millionaire in waiting.

His attorney, Sarah Myatt, said "no amount that you could say that would be sufficient for sacrificing 38 years of your life".