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For someone who's forfeited approximately 40 years of his life because of a crime he didn't commit, Peter Sullivan projects a unusually positive attitude.

During our encounter last month, for what was his initial media appearance since being freed from prison in May, he was cheerful and excited about getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the initial occasion since he was detained in 1986.

That was the year of the brutal homicide of Diane Sindall in his local community of Birkenhead - an occurrence he said he was merely aware of because someone turned to him in a pub at the time and said, "allegedly there's been a murder".

When he was convicted the following year at Liverpool Crown Court - he was destined to a indefinite period in some of Britain's highest-security category A prisons where he would be tormented by his tabloid nicknames "The Wirral Predator", "The Mersey Ripper" and "The Wolfman".

Adjusting to a Modern World

Prior to our discussion, he was rich with anecdotes about how since his freedom he has had to adapt to a radically changed world.

When he was detained, Margaret Thatcher was in Downing Street, few knew about the internet and Europe was still partitioned by the Iron Curtain.

He explained watching the collapse of the Berlin Wall from a public television in prison.

Mr Sullivan explained how trips to the shops now show how "the world has transformed" - 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".

Modern Challenges

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

"After spending 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 receive your money - you're thinking, 'Wow, what's going on here?'"

He now has a smartphone, after learning doctor's appointments need to be scheduled on something he now knows is called an 'application'.

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

Mental Effects

Mr Sullivan's 14,000 days in confinement have also led to an inevitable sense of system dependency.

He recalled how after his freedom, one morning in his flat he returned to his bedroom and settled on his bed, because he was subconsciously waiting for a prison officer to come and lock him back into his cell.

"You've got to be at your door at a specific hour, otherwise the officers will discipline you", he said.

"I remained thinking, 'What am I doing?'"

Demanding Explanation

But Mr Sullivan's hope is tempered by a yearning for answers about how he was charged with an high-profile murder that he had no part in, 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.

"It pains me because I wasn't there for them", he said.

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

"My only request, an apology [and to understand] the reason why they've done this to me", he said.

Authorities Statement

Merseyside Police said "there would be little benefit to be gained for a review of this matter today" because of "advancements to investigative techniques and developments in the law over the last 40 years".

The force did submit some of Mr Sullivan's allegations to the police regulatory agency, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now examine his claims that officers assaulted him and warned to link him to other crimes if he didn't plead guilty to Diane Sindall's murder.

When asked if it would apologise, the force did not specifically respond the question, but as part of a lengthy statement it said: "The force acknowledges that there has been a serious failure of justice in this case".

Looking Ahead

Mr Sullivan told me about his simple goal - an ambition that he said he had given up of being able to accomplish at some points over his almost forty years behind bars.

"All I want to do now is proceed with my own life and progress as I was before, and live my time out now".

His prospects may be made less challenging by government monetary award, paid to individuals affected of wrongful convictions.

This system is capped at £1.3m, a maximum which it is believed his eventual payout will get very close to.

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

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

Guilty prisoners who confess to their crimes and are freed get a accommodation and some support regarding living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an wrongly convicted individual, is not qualified for that help.

And so he is existing a basic lifestyle, with his modest ambitions - although many think he is a millionaire in waiting.

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