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For someone who's sacrificed nearly 40 years of his life because of a crime he was innocent of, Peter Sullivan maintains a surprisingly hopeful outlook.

In our conversation last month, for what was his debriefing session 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 sexual attack murder of Diane Sindall in his birthplace of Birkenhead - an event he said he was merely aware of because someone spoke to him in a pub at the time and said, "apparently there's been a murder".

When he was sentenced the following year at Liverpool Crown Court - he was condemned to a extended term in some of Britain's most secure category A prisons where he would be hounded by his tabloid nicknames "The Wirral Predator", "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 radically changed world.

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

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

Mr Sullivan told me how trips to the shops now show how "the world has transformed" - from trying to figure out how self-checkouts operate to realising that "rather than having a cheque book, you've got it on your phone".

Modern Surprises

His imprisonment means he has been oblivious to the way so many elements of everyday life have transformed - comparable to someone who has been unconscious 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 collect your money - you're thinking, 'Wow, what's going on here?'"

He now has a smartphone, after learning doctor's appointments need to be booked 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 operating smartphones. He only recognized they were phones when he saw someone put one to their ear.

Mental Consequences

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

He remembered how after his freedom, one morning in his flat he returned to his bedroom and positioned himself on his bed, because he was subconsciously waiting for a prison officer to come and confine 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 am I doing?'"

Seeking Explanation

But Mr Sullivan's optimism is balanced by a longing for answers about how he was charged with an high-profile murder that he didn't commit, and a perplexity about why he still has not had an admission of error.

"Everything is gone", he said.

"I lost all my freedom, 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.

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

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

Police Position

Merseyside Police said "there would be little benefit to be gained for a review of this matter today" because of "developments to investigative techniques and improvements 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 look at his claims that officers beat him up and warned 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 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".

Moving Forward

Mr Sullivan shared about his modest ambition - an ambition that he said he had lost hope of being able to achieve at some points over his approximately 38 years behind bars.

"The sole objective to do now is proceed with my own life and carry on as I was before, and enjoy my remaining years now".

His future may be made less challenging by government financial payment, paid to wrongly convicted people of wrongful convictions.

This program is limited at £1.3m, a cap which it is believed his resulting award will get very close to.

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

Andrew Malkinson, whose guilty verdict for a rape he had no involvement in was quashed in 2023, was only awarded an provisional award earlier this year.

Convicted criminals who admit to their crimes and are freed get a accommodation and some support regarding living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an wrongly convicted individual, is not entitled to that help.

And so he is living a simple existence, with his basic aspirations - although many consider he is a future wealthy man.

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