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Considering he who's lost nearly 40 years of his life because of a crime he was innocent of, Peter Sullivan strikes a remarkably hopeful attitude.

When I met him last month, for what was his debriefing session since being freed from prison in May, he was enthusiastic and eagerly anticipating getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the opening match since he was arrested in 1986.

That was the year of the violent killing of Diane Sindall in his home town of Birkenhead - an occurrence he said he was merely aware of because someone approached him in a pub at the time and said, "apparently there's been a murder".

When he was sentenced the following year at Liverpool Crown Court - he was sentenced to a extended term in some of Britain's most secure category A prisons where he would be hounded by his tabloid nicknames "Birkenhead's Monster", "The Mersey Ripper" and "Nocturnal Predator".

Adjusting to a Modern World

Ahead of our conversation, he was abundant with tales about how since his exoneration he has had to adapt to a radically changed 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 explained watching the fall 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 "instead of having a cheque book, you've got it on your phone".

Technological Surprises

His incarceration means he has been ignorant of the way so many elements of everyday life have changed - similar to someone who has been asleep since the 1980s.

"Having endured 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, 'Goodness, what's going on here?'"

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

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

Emotional Effects

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

He remembered how after his release, one morning in his flat he went back to his bedroom and sat down on his bed, because he was automatically waiting for a prison officer to come and secure him into his cell.

"It's required to be at your door at a designated moment, otherwise the officers will go off at you", he said.

"I remained thinking, 'What's happening?'"

Seeking Answers

But Mr Sullivan's hope is mixed with a desire for answers about how he came to be charged with an high-profile murder that he didn't commit, and a confusion 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 pains me because I couldn't be present for them", he said.

"I cannot proceed 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.

Authorities Response

Merseyside Police said "limited value to be gained for a reassessment of this matter today" because of "developments to investigative techniques and progress in the law over the last 40 years".

The force did refer some of Mr Sullivan's accusations 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 failed to confess 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 acknowledges that there has been a significant injustice of justice in this case".

Looking Ahead

Mr Sullivan told me about his simple goal - an ambition that he said he had lost hope of being able to achieve at some points over his nearly four decades behind bars.

"All I want to do now is continue with my own life and move forward as I was before, and experience freedom now".

His future may be made more manageable by government financial payment, paid to individuals affected of judicial errors.

This program is restricted at £1.3m, a cap which it is thought his eventual payout will get very near.

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

Andrew Malkinson, whose guilty verdict for a rape he was innocent of was quashed in 2023, was only given an provisional award earlier this year.

Convicted criminals 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 eligible for that help.

And so he is existing a basic lifestyle, with his modest ambitions - although many consider he is a millionaire in waiting.

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