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Considering he who's sacrificed almost 40 years of his life as a result of a crime he had no involvement in, Peter Sullivan maintains a unusually optimistic attitude.

During our encounter last month, for what was his initial media appearance since being released from prison in May, he was cheerful and looking forward to 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 local community of Birkenhead - an event he said he only knew about because someone approached him in a pub at the time and said, "reportedly there's been a murder".

When he was found guilty 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 tormented by his tabloid nicknames "The Beast of Birkenhead", "River Mersey Murderer" and "Nocturnal Predator".

Adjusting to a Transformed World

Prior to our discussion, he was rich with anecdotes about how since his exoneration he has had to adapt to a fundamentally altered world.

When he was taken into custody, Margaret Thatcher was in Downing Street, few knew about the internet and Europe was still separated by the Iron Curtain.

He explained watching the fall 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 understand how self-checkouts work to realising that "instead of having a cheque book, you've got it on your phone".

Modern Challenges

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

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

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

Psychological Impact

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

He recalled how after his liberation, 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 secure him into his cell.

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

"I was just sitting there thinking, 'Why am I here?'"

Seeking Explanation

But Mr Sullivan's hope is tempered by a yearning for answers about how he came to be charged with an infamous murder that he didn't commit, and a perplexity about why he still has not had an expression of regret.

"I've lost everything", he said.

"My liberty was taken, I lost my mother since I've been in prison, I've lost my father.

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

"I cannot proceed with my life if I can't get an response off them."

"That's all I want, an apology [and to understand] the reason why they've done this to me", he said.

Authorities Response

Merseyside Police said "minimal advantage to be gained for a reassessment 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 claims to the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now investigate his claims that officers physically abused him and intimidated to link him to other crimes if he failed to confess to Diane Sindall's murder.

When asked if it would issue an apology, the force did not directly answer 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".

Looking Ahead

Mr Sullivan shared about his simple goal - an ambition that he said he had given up of being able to accomplish at some points over his almost forty years behind bars.

"The sole objective to do now is proceed with my own life and carry on as I was before, and enjoy my remaining years now".

His life ahead may be made more manageable by government compensation, paid to individuals affected of judicial errors.

This system is restricted at £1.3m, a limit which it is estimated his final compensation will get very near.

But the process is not immediate, and it is protracted.

Andrew Malkinson, whose sentence for a rape he was innocent of was overturned in 2023, was only granted an provisional award earlier this year.

Convicted criminals who confess to their crimes and are released get a place to live 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 consider he is a millionaire in waiting.

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