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Considering he who's sacrificed almost 40 years of his life as a result of a crime he was innocent of, Peter Sullivan strikes a remarkably positive outlook.

During our encounter last month, for what was his debriefing session since being liberated from prison in May, he was upbeat and excited about getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the opening match since he was detained in 1986.

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

When he was sentenced 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 Wirral Predator", "The Mersey Ripper" and "Nocturnal Predator".

Adjusting to a Digital World

Before our interview, he was abundant with tales about how since his exoneration he has had to adjust 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 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 "in place of having a cheque book, you've got it on your phone".

Technological Surprises

His incarceration means he has been unaware of the way so many facets of everyday life have evolved - comparable to 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 receive your money - you're thinking, 'Amazing, what's going on here?'"

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

He first became familiar with them when he was traveling on a bus shortly after his liberation and saw people twiddling with smartphones. He only realised 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 liberation, one morning in his flat he went 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 must be at your door at a designated moment, otherwise the officers will discipline you", he said.

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

Desiring Explanation

But Mr Sullivan's hope is tempered by a yearning for answers about how he was charged with an infamous murder that he didn't commit, and a bewilderment about why he still has not had an admission of error.

"Everything is gone", he said.

"Freedom disappeared, I lost my mother since I've been in prison, I've lost my father.

"The pain is deep because I was absent for them", he said.

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

"The sole thing I need, an apology [and to understand] the reason why they've done this to me", he said.

Law Enforcement Position

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

The force did refer some of Mr Sullivan's allegations to the police regulatory agency, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now look at his claims that officers assaulted him and intimidated to link him to other crimes if he refused to admit to Diane Sindall's murder.

When asked if it would apologise, the force did not clearly address the question, but as part of a comprehensive declaration it said: "The force regrets that there has been a significant injustice 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 accomplish at some points over his approximately 38 years behind bars.

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

His life ahead may be made easier by government financial payment, paid to victims of wrongful convictions.

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

But the procedure is not automatic, and it is protracted.

Andrew Malkinson, whose conviction for a rape he did not commit was quashed in 2023, was only given an provisional award earlier this year.

Convicted criminals who acknowledge their crimes and are freed get a place to live and some support regarding living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an wrongly convicted individual, is not qualified for that help.

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

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