🔗 Share this article The exonerated man on living in a 'transformed world' The wrongly convicted man wept when the court declared it was overturning his conviction Considering he who's lost nearly 40 years of his life because of a crime he didn't commit, Peter Sullivan projects a surprisingly optimistic outlook. In our conversation last month, for what was his first interview since being released from prison in May, he was upbeat and excited about getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the initial occasion 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 only knew about because someone turned to him in a pub at the time and said, "allegedly there's been a murder". When he was sentenced 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 persecuted by his tabloid nicknames "The Beast of Birkenhead", "Merseyside Killer" and "Nocturnal Predator". Adjusting to a Digital World Before our interview, he was abundant with tales 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, no one had heard of the internet and Europe was still separated by the Iron Curtain. He recalled watching the collapse of the Berlin Wall from a shared television in prison. Mr Sullivan described how trips to the shops now show how "everything's changed" - from trying to figure out how self-checkouts work to realising that "instead of having a cheque book, you've got it on your phone". Modern Adjustments His incarceration means he has been oblivious to the way so many elements of everyday life have transformed - similar to someone who has been in hibernation since the 1980s. "Following so long in prison and learning 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 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 twiddling with smartphones. He only understood they were phones when he saw someone put one to their ear. Emotional Consequences Mr Sullivan's 14,000 days in custody have also led to an predictable sense of system dependency. The journalist spoke to Peter Sullivan privately in an interview last month He recalled how after his freedom, one morning in his flat he went 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 specific hour, otherwise the officers will go off at you", he said. "I remained thinking, 'What's happening?'" Demanding Explanation But Mr Sullivan's positivity is tempered by a yearning for answers about how he was charged with an notorious murder that he had no part in, and a confusion about why he still has not had an expression of regret. "I've lost everything", he said. "Freedom disappeared, I lost my mother since I've been in prison, I've lost my father. "The pain is deep because I wasn't there for them", he said. "It's impossible to continue with my life if I can't get an response off them." "My only request, an apology [and to understand] the reason why they've done this to me", he said. Peter Sullivan was sentenced of attacking Diane Sindall to death in a "brutal killing" Police Response Merseyside Police said "there would be little benefit to be gained for a reassessment of this matter today" because of "the changes to investigative techniques and improvements 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 beat him up and intimidated 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 detailed response it said: "The force recognizes that there has been a significant injustice of justice in this case". Moving Forward Mr Sullivan explained about his modest ambition - an ambition that he said he had abandoned expectation of being able to achieve at some points over his almost forty years behind bars. "All I want to do now is get on with my own life and carry on as I was before, and live my time out now". Diane Sindall, 21, was due to be married when she was tragically died His life ahead may be made easier by government compensation, paid to individuals affected of judicial errors. This scheme is capped at £1.3m, a limit which it is believed his eventual payout will get very close to. But the procedure is not immediate, and it is time-consuming. Andrew Malkinson, whose conviction for a rape he had no involvement in was dismissed in 2023, was only awarded an interim compensation payout earlier this year. Guilty prisoners who admit to their crimes and are released get a accommodation and some help with living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an exonerated person, is not entitled to that help. And so he is surviving a basic lifestyle, with his humble goals - although many consider he is a millionaire in waiting. His lawyer, Sarah Myatt, said "no sum that you could say that would be enough for sacrificing 38 years of your life".