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Considering he who's forfeited approximately 40 years of his life because of a crime he had no involvement in, Peter Sullivan projects a unusually optimistic attitude.

When I met him last month, for what was his first interview since being liberated from prison in May, he was enthusiastic and looking forward to getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the first time since he was arrested in 1986.

That was the year of the brutal homicide of Diane Sindall in his birthplace of Birkenhead - an occurrence he said he only knew about because someone approached him in a pub at the time and said, "reportedly there's been a murder".

When he was convicted the following year at Liverpool Crown Court - he was sentenced to a indefinite period 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 "The Wolfman".

Navigating a Transformed World

Before our interview, he was full of stories about how since his release he has had to acclimate to a completely different 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 fall of the Berlin Wall from a communal television in prison.

Mr Sullivan told me how trips to the shops now show how "the world has transformed" - from trying to understand how self-checkouts operate to realising that "rather than 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 aspects of everyday life have changed - similar to someone who has been asleep since the 1980s.

"Following 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, 'Goodness, 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 'mobile program'.

He first became acquainted with them when he was riding on a bus shortly after his liberation and saw people operating smartphones. He only realised they were phones when he saw someone put one to their ear.

Mental Consequences

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

He recalled how after his liberation, one morning in his flat he walked back to his bedroom and positioned himself 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 go off at you", he said.

"I remained thinking, 'What's happening?'"

Demanding Closure

But Mr Sullivan's optimism is balanced by a desire for answers about how he was charged with an infamous murder that he was innocent of, and a perplexity about why he still has not had an apology.

"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.

"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 cause behind they've done this to me", he said.

Authorities Statement

Merseyside Police said "there would be little benefit to be gained for a re-examination of this matter today" because of "the changes to investigative techniques and progress in the law over the last 40 years".

The force did forward some of Mr Sullivan's allegations to the police oversight body, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now examine his claims that officers beat him up and threatened to link him to other crimes if he didn't plead guilty 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 grave miscarriage of justice in this case".

Moving Forward

Mr Sullivan shared about his simple goal - an ambition that he said he had given up of being able to realise 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 experience freedom now".

His life ahead may be made more manageable by government monetary award, paid to individuals affected of wrongful convictions.

This program is capped at £1.3m, a maximum which it is thought his resulting award will get very close to.

But the procedure is not guaranteed, and it is time-consuming.

Andrew Malkinson, whose guilty verdict for a rape he had no involvement in was quashed in 2023, was only given an temporary payment earlier this year.

Admitted offenders who admit to their crimes and are paroled get a place to live and some assistance for living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an exonerated person, is not qualified for that help.

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

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