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For someone who's sacrificed nearly 40 years of his life because of a crime he had no involvement in, Peter Sullivan strikes a remarkably hopeful tone.

When I met him last month, for what was his first interview since being freed from prison in May, he was upbeat and excited about getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the first time since he was taken into custody in 1986.

That was the year of the sexual attack murder of Diane Sindall in his local community of Birkenhead - an incident he said he had limited information regarding because someone spoke to him in a pub at the time and said, "apparently there's been a murder".

When he was sentenced the following year at Liverpool Crown Court - he was destined to a extended term in some of Britain's highest-security category A prisons where he would be persecuted by his tabloid nicknames "Birkenhead's Monster", "Merseyside Killer" and "The Wolfman".

Adjusting to a Modern World

Ahead of our conversation, he was full of stories about how since his exoneration he has had to adjust to a radically changed world.

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

He explained watching the demolition of the Berlin Wall from a shared 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 function to realising that "instead of having a cheque book, you've got it on your phone".

Digital Adjustments

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

"Following so long in prison and discovering 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, 'Amazing, what's going on here?'"

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

He first became familiar with them when he was riding on a bus shortly after his release and saw people using smartphones. He only recognized they were phones when he saw someone put one to their ear.

Mental Impact

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

He remembered how after his release, one morning in his flat he went back to his bedroom and sat down 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 specific hour, otherwise the officers will go off at you", he said.

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

Desiring Explanation

But Mr Sullivan's optimism 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 confusion about why he still has not had an apology.

"My entire life vanished", he said.

"My liberty was taken, 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 can't carry on with my life if I can't get an explanation off them."

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

Authorities Response

Merseyside Police said "limited value 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 refer some of Mr Sullivan's allegations to the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now investigate his claims that officers assaulted him and intimidated 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".

Moving Forward

Mr Sullivan explained about his modest ambition - an ambition that he said he had lost hope of being able to achieve at some points over his almost forty years behind bars.

"The sole objective to do now is get on with my own life and progress as I was before, and enjoy my remaining years now".

His prospects may be made easier by government financial payment, paid to individuals affected of wrongful convictions.

This program is limited at £1.3m, a cap which it is thought his final compensation will get very close to.

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

Andrew Malkinson, whose guilty verdict for a rape he had no involvement in was overturned in 2023, was only granted an interim compensation payout earlier this year.

Convicted criminals who confess to their crimes and are released get a housing and some help with living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an exonerated person, is not entitled to that help.

And so he is living a modest life, with his humble goals - although many think he is a millionaire in waiting.

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