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For someone who's sacrificed approximately 40 years of his life due to a crime he was innocent of, Peter Sullivan strikes a remarkably positive attitude.

When I met him last month, for what was his debriefing session since being freed from prison in May, he was cheerful and eagerly anticipating 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 local community of Birkenhead - an event he said he had limited information regarding because someone approached 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 most secure category A prisons where he would be tormented by his tabloid nicknames "The Beast of Birkenhead", "Merseyside Killer" and "Lunar Killer".

Adjusting to a Modern World

Prior to our discussion, he was full of stories 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, 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 described how trips to the shops now show how "the world has transformed" - from trying to work out how self-checkouts work to realising that "instead of having a cheque book, you've got it on your phone".

Digital Surprises

His imprisonment means he has been unaware of the way so many elements of everyday life have transformed - similar to someone who has been asleep since the 1980s.

"Having endured 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 collect your money - you're thinking, 'Wow, what's going on here?'"

He now has a smartphone, after discovering doctor's appointments need to be scheduled 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 release and saw people using smartphones. He only realised they were phones when he saw someone put one to their ear.

Psychological Impact

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

He remembered how after his liberation, one morning in his flat he returned to his bedroom and sat down on his bed, because he was automatically waiting for a prison officer to come and lock him back into his cell.

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

"I found myself thinking, 'Why am I here?'"

Demanding Closure

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

"I've lost everything", he said.

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

"It pains me 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."

"That's all I want, an apology [and to understand] the explanation for they've done this to me", he said.

Police Response

Merseyside Police said "limited value 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 allegations to the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now investigate his claims that officers assaulted him and threatened to link him to other crimes if he failed to confess 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 detailed response it said: "The force regrets that there has been a grave miscarriage of justice in this case".

Looking Ahead

Mr Sullivan told me about his basic aspiration - an ambition that he said he had abandoned expectation of being able to realise at some points over his almost forty years behind bars.

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

His prospects may be made easier by government compensation, paid to victims of wrongful convictions.

This program is capped at £1.3m, a maximum which it is estimated his final compensation will get very approach.

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

Andrew Malkinson, whose conviction for a rape he did not commit was dismissed in 2023, was only granted an interim compensation payout earlier this year.

Convicted criminals who confess to their crimes and are freed get a housing 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 basic lifestyle, with his humble goals - although many think he is a compensation recipient.

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