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Considering he who's forfeited almost 40 years of his life due to a crime he had no involvement in, Peter Sullivan strikes a remarkably optimistic tone.

When I met him last month, for what was his debriefing session since being freed from prison in May, he was cheerful and excited about getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the first time since he was arrested in 1986.

That was the year of the sexual attack murder of Diane Sindall in his local community of Birkenhead - an occurrence he said he was merely aware of because someone turned to him in a pub at the time and said, "apparently there's been a murder".

When he was found guilty the following year at Liverpool Crown Court - he was destined to a extended term in some of Britain's highest-security category A prisons where he would be persecuted by his tabloid nicknames "The Beast of Birkenhead", "River Mersey Murderer" and "Nocturnal Predator".

Adapting to a Transformed World

Prior to our discussion, he was full of stories about how since his release he has had to adjust to a fundamentally altered world.

When he was detained, Margaret Thatcher was in Downing Street, few knew about the internet and Europe was still divided by the Iron Curtain.

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

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

Digital Challenges

His imprisonment means he has been ignorant of the way so many aspects of everyday life have evolved - almost like someone who has been asleep since the 1980s.

"After spending 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 collect your money - you're thinking, 'Amazing, what's going on here?'"

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

He first became knowledgeable about them when he was sitting on a bus shortly after his freedom and saw people using 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 unavoidable sense of prison conditioning.

He recalled how after his freedom, one morning in his flat he walked back to his bedroom and settled on his bed, because he was subconsciously waiting for a prison officer to come and lock him back into his cell.

"You've got to be at your door at a certain time, otherwise the officers will yell at you", he said.

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

Demanding Closure

But Mr Sullivan's optimism is mixed with a yearning for answers about how he ended up being charged with an notorious murder that he didn't commit, and a bewilderment about why he still has not had an apology.

"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 hurts 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 cause behind they've done this to me", he said.

Law Enforcement Statement

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

The force did forward some of Mr Sullivan's allegations to the police regulatory agency, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now examine his claims that officers assaulted him 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 specifically respond the question, but as part of a lengthy statement it said: "The force acknowledges that there has been a grave miscarriage of justice in this case".

Looking Ahead

Mr Sullivan told me about his modest ambition - an ambition that he said he had given up of being able to accomplish at some points over his nearly four decades behind bars.

"My only desire 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 more manageable by government monetary award, paid to individuals affected of miscarriages of justice.

This system is restricted at £1.3m, a limit which it is estimated his eventual payout will get very close to.

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

Andrew Malkinson, whose sentence for a rape he was innocent of was overturned in 2023, was only awarded an interim compensation payout earlier this year.

Admitted offenders who admit to their crimes and are freed get a housing and some assistance for living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an innocent man, is not entitled to that help.

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

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