The exonerated man on experiencing a 'different society'

For someone who's forfeited approximately 40 years of his life due to a crime he was innocent of, Peter Sullivan projects a surprisingly hopeful outlook.

In our conversation last month, for what was his initial media appearance since being released from prison in May, he was upbeat and excited about getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the initial occasion since he was taken into custody in 1986.

That was the year of the violent killing of Diane Sindall in his birthplace of Birkenhead - an event he said he had limited information regarding because someone turned 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 sentenced to a indefinite period in some of Britain's most secure category A prisons where he would be tormented by his tabloid nicknames "The Beast of Birkenhead", "River Mersey Murderer" and "Nocturnal Predator".

Adapting to a Transformed World

Ahead of our conversation, he was rich with anecdotes about how since his release he has had to acclimate to a radically changed world.

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

He described watching the demolition of the Berlin Wall from a shared 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 work to realising that "in place of having a cheque book, you've got it on your phone".

Digital Challenges

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

"Having endured 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 pick up 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 arranged on something he now knows is called an 'mobile program'.

He first became acquainted with them when he was sitting on a bus shortly after his freedom 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 unavoidable sense of system dependency.

He described how after his liberation, one morning in his flat he went back to his bedroom and sat down on his bed, because he was unconsciously waiting for a prison officer to come and confine him into his cell.

"You must be at your door at a specific hour, otherwise the officers will yell at you", he said.

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

Seeking Closure

But Mr Sullivan's optimism is mixed with a yearning for answers about how he ended up being charged with an notorious murder that he didn't commit, and a perplexity about why he still has not had an admission of error.

"My entire life vanished", 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 wasn't there for them", he said.

"I can't carry on 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 "minimal advantage to be gained for a review of this matter today" because of "advancements 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 oversight body, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now examine his claims that officers assaulted him and intimidated to link him to other crimes if he didn't plead guilty to Diane Sindall's murder.

When asked if it would issue an apology, the force did not clearly address the question, but as part of a comprehensive declaration it said: "The force recognizes that there has been a serious failure of justice in this case".

Future Prospects

Mr Sullivan shared about his modest ambition - an ambition that he said he had given up of being able to realise 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 live my time out now".

His life ahead may be made more manageable by government monetary award, paid to victims of judicial errors.

This system is capped at £1.3m, a cap which it is estimated his eventual payout will get very near.

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

Andrew Malkinson, whose sentence for a rape he did not commit was dismissed in 2023, was only granted an provisional award earlier this year.

Guilty prisoners who admit to their crimes and are freed get a housing and some help with living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an exonerated person, is not eligible for that help.

And so he is existing a modest life, with his basic aspirations - although many believe he is a compensation recipient.

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