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Considering he who's forfeited almost 40 years of his life due to a crime he didn't commit, Peter Sullivan projects a remarkably optimistic tone.

When I met him last month, for what was his debriefing session since being liberated from prison in May, he was cheerful and looking forward to getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the opening match since he was taken into custody in 1986.

That was the year of the violent killing of Diane Sindall in his home town of Birkenhead - an event 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 destined to a lifetime in some of Britain's toughest category A prisons where he would be tormented by his tabloid nicknames "The Beast of Birkenhead", "Merseyside Killer" and "Lunar Killer".

Adjusting to a Digital World

Before our interview, he was abundant with tales about how since his release he has had to acclimate to a fundamentally altered world.

When he was taken into custody, Margaret Thatcher was in Downing Street, the concept of the internet and Europe was still divided by the Iron Curtain.

He recalled watching the collapse of the Berlin Wall from a shared television in prison.

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

Technological Surprises

His confinement means he has been ignorant of the way so many aspects of everyday life have transformed - almost like someone who has been unconscious since the 1980s.

"After spending 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, 'Amazing, what's going on here?'"

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

He first became knowledgeable about them when he was sitting on a bus shortly after his freedom and saw people twiddling with smartphones. He only understood they were phones when he saw someone put one to their ear.

Mental Impact

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

He described how after his release, one morning in his flat he went back to his bedroom and positioned himself 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 certain time, otherwise the officers will discipline you", he said.

"I found myself thinking, 'What's happening?'"

Demanding Closure

But Mr Sullivan's positivity is balanced by a longing for answers about how he ended up being charged with an high-profile murder that he had no part in, and a bewilderment 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 pains me because I was absent for them", he said.

"It's impossible to continue with my life if I can't get an response off them."

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

Law Enforcement Statement

Merseyside Police said "there would be little benefit to be gained for a re-examination of this matter today" because of "advancements to investigative techniques and progress 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 investigate 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 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 grave miscarriage of justice in this case".

Looking Ahead

Mr Sullivan told me about his modest ambition - an ambition that he said he had given up of being able to achieve at some points over his approximately 38 years behind bars.

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

His prospects may be made more manageable by government compensation, paid to individuals affected of miscarriages of justice.

This scheme is limited at £1.3m, a cap which it is believed his eventual payout will get very approach.

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

Andrew Malkinson, whose sentence for a rape he was innocent of was quashed in 2023, was only given an temporary payment earlier this year.

Admitted offenders who confess to 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 eligible for that help.

And so he is living a simple existence, with his modest ambitions - although many believe he is a compensation recipient.

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