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Considering he who's forfeited approximately 40 years of his life because of a crime he was innocent of, Peter Sullivan strikes a surprisingly positive attitude.

During our encounter 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 initial occasion since he was taken into custody 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 spoke to him in a pub at the time and said, "allegedly there's been a murder".

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

Adapting to a Modern World

Before our interview, he was full of stories about how since his release he has had to adjust to a fundamentally altered 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 fall of the Berlin Wall from a shared television in prison.

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

Modern Challenges

His imprisonment means he has been ignorant of the way so many elements of everyday life have transformed - comparable to someone who has been asleep 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 collect your money - you're thinking, 'Amazing, what's going on here?'"

He now has a smartphone, after finding out 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 riding on a bus shortly after his liberation and saw people twiddling with smartphones. He only recognized they were phones when he saw someone put one to their ear.

Mental Effects

Mr Sullivan's 14,000 days in custody have also led to an predictable 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 automatically waiting for a prison officer to come and confine him into his cell.

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

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

Seeking Explanation

But Mr Sullivan's hope is mixed with a desire for answers about how he ended up being charged with an high-profile murder that he was innocent of, and a confusion 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."

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

Police Response

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

The force did forward 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 physically abused him and warned to link him to other crimes if he refused to admit to Diane Sindall's murder.

When asked if it would apologise, the force did not directly answer the question, but as part of a detailed response it said: "The force recognizes that there has been a serious failure of justice in this case".

Future Prospects

Mr Sullivan told me about his modest ambition - an ambition that he said he had given up of being able to achieve at some points over his nearly four decades behind bars.

"My only desire to do now is get on with my own life and move forward as I was before, and live my time out now".

His life ahead may be made more manageable by government compensation, paid to wrongly convicted people of judicial errors.

This program is limited at £1.3m, a limit which it is believed his final compensation will get very approach.

But the process is not immediate, and it is time-consuming.

Andrew Malkinson, whose sentence for a rape he did not commit was quashed in 2023, was only granted an interim compensation payout earlier this year.

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

And so he is living a simple existence, with his basic aspirations - although many believe he is a millionaire in waiting.

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