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Considering he who's lost approximately 40 years of his life as a result of a crime he didn't commit, Peter Sullivan projects a surprisingly positive attitude.

In our conversation last month, for what was his first interview since being liberated from prison in May, he was upbeat and looking forward to getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the opening match 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 occurrence he said he only knew about 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 most secure category A prisons where he would be tormented by his tabloid nicknames "The Wirral Predator", "The Mersey Ripper" and "Lunar Killer".

Navigating a Digital World

Before our interview, he was rich with anecdotes about how since his release he has had to adjust to a completely different world.

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

He described watching the demolition 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 understand how self-checkouts function 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 facets of everyday life have changed - similar to someone who has been in hibernation 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 receive 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 acquainted with them when he was traveling on a bus shortly after his freedom and saw people twiddling with smartphones. He only recognized they were phones when he saw someone put one to their ear.

Emotional Impact

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

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

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

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

Seeking Answers

But Mr Sullivan's optimism is tempered by a desire for answers about how he was charged with an notorious murder that he had no part in, and a perplexity about why he still has not had an admission of error.

"My entire life vanished", 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 couldn't be present for them", he said.

"I can't carry on with my life if I can't get an response off them."

"That's all I want, an apology [and to understand] the reason why 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 "advancements to investigative techniques and developments in the law over the last 40 years".

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

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

Moving Forward

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

"All I want to do now is get on with my own life and carry on as I was before, and experience freedom now".

His life ahead may be made less challenging by government monetary award, paid to wrongly convicted people of miscarriages of justice.

This system is restricted at £1.3m, a cap which it is estimated 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 did not commit was overturned in 2023, was only awarded an provisional award earlier this year.

Admitted offenders who confess to their crimes and are released get a accommodation and some help with living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an exonerated person, is not qualified for that help.

And so he is existing a simple existence, with his modest ambitions - although many consider he is a compensation recipient.

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