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For someone who's forfeited almost 40 years of his life as a result of a crime he was innocent of, Peter Sullivan projects a remarkably hopeful outlook.

During our encounter last month, for what was his initial media appearance since being released from prison in May, he was upbeat 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 local community of Birkenhead - an incident he said he had limited information regarding because someone approached him in a pub at the time and said, "allegedly 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 highest-security category A prisons where he would be tormented by his tabloid nicknames "The Beast of Birkenhead", "The Mersey Ripper" and "Lunar Killer".

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

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

Mr Sullivan described how trips to the shops now show how "everything's changed" - 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 Adjustments

His incarceration means he has been unaware of the way so many aspects of everyday life have changed - almost like someone who has been unconscious 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 pick up your money - you're thinking, 'Goodness, what's going on here?'"

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

He first became knowledgeable about them when he was traveling 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.

Emotional Consequences

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

He recalled how after his release, one morning in his flat he went back to his bedroom and positioned himself on his bed, because he was automatically 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 was just sitting there thinking, 'What's happening?'"

Desiring Answers

But Mr Sullivan's optimism is balanced by a desire for answers about how he ended up being charged with an infamous murder that he was innocent of, and a bewilderment about why he still has not had an expression of regret.

"Everything is gone", 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 wasn't there for them", he said.

"It's impossible to continue with my life if I can't get an response off them."

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

Police 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 improvements in the law over the last 40 years".

The force did refer 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 express regret, the force did not clearly address the question, but as part of a lengthy statement it said: "The force recognizes that there has been a significant injustice of justice in this case".

Future Prospects

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

"My only desire to do now is proceed with my own life and move forward as I was before, and experience freedom now".

His future may be made less challenging by government financial payment, paid to victims of wrongful convictions.

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

But the procedure is not automatic, and it is time-consuming.

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

Guilty prisoners who acknowledge their crimes and are paroled get a housing and some help with living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an wrongly convicted individual, is not qualified for that help.

And so he is existing a simple existence, with his modest ambitions - although many consider he is a future wealthy man.

His legal representative, Sarah Myatt, said "no sum that you could say that would be adequate for forfeiting 38 years of your life".