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Considering he who's forfeited approximately 40 years of his life due to a crime he had no involvement in, Peter Sullivan maintains a remarkably positive attitude.

During our encounter last month, for what was his debriefing session since being liberated from prison in May, he was upbeat and looking forward to getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the first time since he was arrested in 1986.

That was the year of the violent killing of Diane Sindall in his birthplace of Birkenhead - an incident he said he was merely aware of because someone spoke to him in a pub at the time and said, "allegedly there's been a murder".

When he was found guilty the following year at Liverpool Crown Court - he was destined to a lifetime in some of Britain's toughest category A prisons where he would be hounded by his tabloid nicknames "The Beast of Birkenhead", "River Mersey Murderer" and "The Wolfman".

Adapting to a Modern World

Ahead of our conversation, he was full of stories about how since his release he has had to acclimate to a fundamentally altered world.

When he was arrested, Margaret Thatcher was in Downing Street, the concept of the internet and Europe was still separated by the Iron Curtain.

He described watching the collapse of the Berlin Wall from a communal television in prison.

Mr Sullivan told me how trips to the shops now show how "everything's changed" - from trying to figure out how self-checkouts operate to realising that "instead of having a cheque book, you've got it on your phone".

Digital Surprises

His imprisonment means he has been oblivious to the way so many aspects of everyday life have transformed - comparable to someone who has been unconscious since the 1980s.

"Following 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 mobile device, 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 sitting on a bus shortly after his release and saw people using smartphones. He only understood they were phones when he saw someone put one to their ear.

Psychological Consequences

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

He described how after his freedom, 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 must be at your door at a specific hour, otherwise the officers will go off at you", he said.

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

Seeking Explanation

But Mr Sullivan's positivity is balanced by a desire for answers about how he ended up being charged with an high-profile murder that he had no part in, and a perplexity about why he still has not had an admission of error.

"I've lost everything", he said.

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

Police Position

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

The force did forward some of Mr Sullivan's accusations to the police regulatory agency, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now examine his claims that officers physically abused him and warned to link him to other crimes if he didn't plead guilty to Diane Sindall's murder.

When asked if it would express regret, the force did not directly answer the question, but as part of a lengthy statement it said: "The force recognizes that there has been a serious failure of justice in this case".

Moving Forward

Mr Sullivan told me about his simple goal - an ambition that he said he had abandoned expectation of being able to realise at some points over his approximately 38 years behind bars.

"My only desire to do now is get on with my own life and progress as I was before, and experience freedom now".

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

This system is capped at £1.3m, a cap which it is thought his final compensation will get very close to.

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

Andrew Malkinson, whose sentence for a rape he had no involvement in was quashed in 2023, was only granted an temporary payment earlier this year.

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

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

His attorney, Sarah Myatt, said "there's not a figure that you could say that would be enough for forfeiting 38 years of your life".