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For someone who's lost almost 40 years of his life due to a crime he didn't commit, Peter Sullivan projects a remarkably positive outlook.

During our encounter last month, for what was his first interview since being released from prison in May, he was cheerful and looking forward to getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the initial occasion since he was arrested in 1986.

That was the year of the violent killing of Diane Sindall in his home town of Birkenhead - an occurrence he said he had limited information regarding because someone turned to 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 extended term in some of Britain's toughest category A prisons where he would be persecuted by his tabloid nicknames "The Beast of Birkenhead", "Merseyside Killer" and "Lunar Killer".

Adjusting to a Digital World

Ahead of our conversation, he was abundant with tales about how since his release he has had to adapt to a fundamentally altered world.

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

He explained watching the demolition of the Berlin Wall from a shared television in prison.

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

Technological Surprises

His incarceration means he has been unaware of the way so many elements of everyday life have changed - similar to someone who has been in hibernation since the 1980s.

"Following 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 arranged on something he now knows is called an 'application'.

He first became acquainted with them when he was riding on a bus shortly after his release and saw people operating 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 unavoidable sense of system dependency.

He remembered how after his freedom, one morning in his flat he walked back to his bedroom and settled on his bed, because he was unconsciously waiting for a prison officer to come and secure him into his cell.

"You've got to be at your door at a certain time, otherwise the officers will yell at you", he said.

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

Seeking Explanation

But Mr Sullivan's hope is tempered by a yearning 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 was absent for them", he said.

"I cannot proceed 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.

Authorities Position

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

The force did forward some of Mr Sullivan's accusations to the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now look at his claims that officers beat him up and threatened to link him to other crimes if he failed to confess to Diane Sindall's murder.

When asked if it would apologise, the force did not specifically respond 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".

Looking Ahead

Mr Sullivan explained about his simple goal - an ambition that he said he had abandoned expectation of being able to accomplish at some points over his approximately 38 years behind bars.

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

His life ahead may be made easier by government monetary award, paid to victims of miscarriages of justice.

This scheme is restricted at £1.3m, a limit which it is thought his eventual payout will get very close to.

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

Andrew Malkinson, whose conviction for a rape he had no involvement in was quashed in 2023, was only given an interim compensation payout earlier this year.

Convicted criminals who confess to their crimes and are paroled get a housing and some assistance for living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an wrongly convicted individual, is not eligible for that help.

And so he is surviving a simple existence, with his basic aspirations - although many think he is a compensation recipient.

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