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For someone who's sacrificed approximately 40 years of his life because of a crime he didn't commit, Peter Sullivan strikes a remarkably hopeful attitude.

During our encounter last month, for what was his first interview since being freed from prison in May, he was enthusiastic and looking forward to getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the first time since he was detained in 1986.

That was the year of the violent killing of Diane Sindall in his birthplace of Birkenhead - an incident 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 found guilty the following year at Liverpool Crown Court - he was condemned to a lifetime in some of Britain's highest-security category A prisons where he would be tormented by his tabloid nicknames "The Wirral Predator", "The Mersey Ripper" and "Nocturnal Predator".

Adapting to a Transformed World

Before our interview, he was abundant with tales 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, no one had heard of the internet and Europe was still divided by the Iron Curtain.

He described watching the demolition of the Berlin Wall from a shared television in prison.

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

Technological Challenges

His confinement means he has been ignorant of the way so many facets of everyday life have transformed - comparable to someone who has been in hibernation since the 1980s.

"Following so long in prison and learning 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 mobile device, after learning doctor's appointments need to be arranged on something he now knows is called an 'app'.

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

Mental Impact

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

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 automatically waiting for a prison officer to come and secure him into his cell.

"It's required to be at your door at a specific hour, otherwise the officers will discipline you", he said.

"I found myself thinking, 'What am I doing?'"

Demanding Answers

But Mr Sullivan's optimism is tempered by a desire for answers about how he ended up being charged with an notorious murder that he had no part in, and a perplexity about why he still has not had an apology.

"My entire life vanished", he said.

"I lost all my freedom, I lost my mother since I've been in prison, I've lost my father.

"The pain is deep because I wasn't there for them", he said.

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

"My only request, an apology [and to understand] the reason why they've done this to me", he said.

Police Position

Merseyside Police said "minimal advantage to be gained for a re-examination of this matter today" because of "developments to investigative techniques and progress in the law over the last 40 years".

The force did submit 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 beat him up 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 clearly address the question, but as part of a detailed response it said: "The force recognizes that there has been a serious failure of justice in this case".

Looking Ahead

Mr Sullivan shared about his basic aspiration - an ambition that he said he had lost hope 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 move forward as I was before, and live my time out now".

His future may be made easier by government monetary award, paid to victims of wrongful convictions.

This scheme is limited at £1.3m, a cap which it is believed his resulting award will get very close to.

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

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

Guilty prisoners who confess to their crimes and are released get a accommodation and some assistance for living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an innocent man, is not eligible for that help.

And so he is existing a simple existence, with his humble goals - although many believe he is a compensation recipient.

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