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Considering he who's lost almost 40 years of his life due to a crime he was innocent of, Peter Sullivan maintains a unusually hopeful attitude.

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

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

When he was found guilty the following year at Liverpool Crown Court - he was condemned to a lifetime in some of Britain's toughest category A prisons where he would be hounded by his tabloid nicknames "The Beast of Birkenhead", "River Mersey Murderer" and "Lunar Killer".

Adjusting to a Modern World

Prior to our discussion, he was abundant with tales about how since his exoneration he has had to acclimate to a fundamentally altered world.

When he was taken into custody, Margaret Thatcher was in Downing Street, no one had heard of the internet and Europe was still separated by the Iron Curtain.

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

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

Modern Adjustments

His incarceration means he has been oblivious to the way so many facets of everyday life have transformed - 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 receive your money - you're thinking, 'Wow, what's going on here?'"

He now has a digital phone, after discovering doctor's appointments need to be booked on something he now knows is called an 'app'.

He first became acquainted with them when he was sitting 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.

Psychological Impact

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

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

"You must be at your door at a designated moment, otherwise the officers will discipline you", he said.

"I found myself thinking, 'What am I doing?'"

Desiring Explanation

But Mr Sullivan's optimism is mixed with a desire for answers about how he ended up being charged with an notorious murder that he didn't commit, and a confusion about why he still has not had an expression of regret.

"I've lost everything", he said.

"Freedom disappeared, I lost my mother since I've been in prison, I've lost my father.

"It hurts because I was absent 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.

Authorities Response

Merseyside Police said "limited value to be gained for a re-examination 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 allegations to the police oversight body, 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 refused to admit to Diane Sindall's murder.

When asked if it would issue an apology, the force did not directly answer the question, but as part of a lengthy statement it said: "The force recognizes that there has been a significant injustice of justice in this case".

Future Prospects

Mr Sullivan explained about his basic aspiration - an ambition that he said he had abandoned expectation of being able to realise at some points over his nearly four decades behind bars.

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

His prospects may be made more manageable by government financial payment, paid to victims of wrongful convictions.

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

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

Andrew Malkinson, whose guilty verdict for a rape he did not commit was dismissed in 2023, was only given an temporary payment earlier this year.

Admitted offenders who confess to their crimes and are paroled get a accommodation 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 think he is a future wealthy man.

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