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For someone who's lost almost 40 years of his life because of a crime he had no involvement in, Peter Sullivan strikes a surprisingly optimistic tone.

When I met him last month, for what was his first interview since being liberated from prison in May, he was upbeat and excited about getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the initial occasion since he was arrested in 1986.

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

When he was sentenced 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 persecuted by his tabloid nicknames "The Beast of Birkenhead", "The Mersey Ripper" and "Nocturnal Predator".

Adjusting to a Modern World

Ahead of our conversation, he was full of stories about how since his freedom he has had to adapt to a fundamentally altered world.

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

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

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

Technological Surprises

His incarceration means he has been ignorant of the way so many aspects of everyday life have transformed - comparable to someone who has been unconscious since the 1980s.

"After spending 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 pick up your money - you're thinking, 'Goodness, what's going on here?'"

He now has a mobile device, after learning doctor's appointments need to be scheduled 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 freedom 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 confinement have also led to an inevitable sense of institutionalisation.

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

"You must be at your door at a certain time, otherwise the officers will go off at you", he said.

"I was just sitting there thinking, 'What am I doing?'"

Desiring Closure

But Mr Sullivan's positivity is tempered by a desire for answers about how he ended up being charged with an infamous murder that he didn't commit, and a perplexity about why he still has not had an expression of regret.

"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.

"The pain is deep because I was absent for them", he said.

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

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

Law Enforcement Position

Merseyside Police said "minimal advantage 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 submit some of Mr Sullivan's claims to the police regulatory agency, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now investigate 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 acknowledges that there has been a significant injustice of justice in this case".

Moving Forward

Mr Sullivan shared about his simple goal - an ambition that he said he had abandoned expectation of being able to accomplish at some points over his nearly four decades behind bars.

"The sole objective 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 financial payment, paid to individuals affected of judicial errors.

This system is restricted at £1.3m, a limit which it is believed his final compensation will get very close to.

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

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

Admitted offenders who confess to their crimes and are released get a place to live and some assistance for living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an wrongly convicted individual, is not entitled to that help.

And so he is existing a modest life, with his humble goals - although many consider he is a future wealthy man.

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