🔗 Share this article

For someone who's sacrificed almost 40 years of his life because of a crime he was innocent of, Peter Sullivan maintains a unusually hopeful attitude.

When I met him last month, for what was his first interview since being liberated from prison in May, he was enthusiastic and eagerly anticipating getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the initial occasion since he was detained 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, "apparently there's been a murder".

When he was convicted the following year at Liverpool Crown Court - he was sentenced to a lifetime in some of Britain's most secure category A prisons where he would be persecuted by his tabloid nicknames "The Beast of Birkenhead", "River Mersey Murderer" and "The Wolfman".

Adjusting to a Digital World

Prior to our discussion, 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 divided by the Iron Curtain.

He explained watching the demolition of the Berlin Wall from a public television in prison.

Mr Sullivan explained how trips to the shops now show how "the world has transformed" - from trying to understand how self-checkouts function to realising that "in place of having a cheque book, you've got it on your phone".

Modern Challenges

His incarceration means he has been oblivious to the way so many facets of everyday life have changed - similar to someone who has been in hibernation since the 1980s.

"Following 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 collect your money - you're thinking, 'Wow, what's going on here?'"

He now has a mobile device, after finding out doctor's appointments need to be scheduled on something he now knows is called an 'mobile program'.

He first became familiar with them when he was riding on a bus shortly after his liberation and saw people twiddling with smartphones. He only realised they were phones when he saw someone put one to their ear.

Emotional Impact

Mr Sullivan's 14,000 days in confinement have also led to an inevitable sense of institutionalisation.

He recalled how after his release, one morning in his flat he walked back to his bedroom and settled on his bed, because he was unconsciously 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 yell at you", he said.

"I was just sitting there thinking, 'What's happening?'"

Seeking Closure

But Mr Sullivan's positivity is balanced by a yearning for answers about how he came to be charged with an high-profile murder that he had no part in, and a confusion about why he still has not had an apology.

"My entire life vanished", he said.

"Freedom disappeared, I lost my mother since I've been in prison, I've lost my father.

"It pains me because I wasn't there for them", he said.

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

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

Police Position

Merseyside Police said "limited value to be gained for a re-examination of this matter today" because of "advancements to investigative techniques and improvements in the law over the last 40 years".

The force did forward some of Mr Sullivan's accusations to the police oversight body, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now look at his claims that officers beat him up 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 clearly address the question, but as part of a comprehensive declaration it said: "The force acknowledges that there has been a serious failure of justice in this case".

Future Prospects

Mr Sullivan shared about his modest ambition - an ambition that he said he had abandoned expectation of being able to achieve at some points over his approximately 38 years behind bars.

"All I want to do now is continue with my own life and carry on as I was before, and enjoy my remaining years now".

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

This scheme is capped at £1.3m, a limit which it is believed his resulting award will get very near.

But the system is not guaranteed, and it is lengthy.

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

Admitted offenders who admit to their crimes and are paroled get a place to live and some assistance for living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an exonerated person, is not qualified for that help.

And so he is existing a simple existence, with his modest ambitions - although many consider he is a compensation recipient.

His attorney, Sarah Myatt, said "there's not a figure that you could say that would be sufficient for sacrificing 38 years of your life".