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For someone who's lost almost 40 years of his life due to a crime he didn't commit, Peter Sullivan maintains a unusually optimistic outlook.

During our encounter last month, for what was his debriefing session since being freed from prison in May, he was cheerful and excited about getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the initial occasion since he was detained 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 only knew about because someone approached 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 sentenced to a extended term in some of Britain's highest-security category A prisons where he would be persecuted by his tabloid nicknames "The Beast of Birkenhead", "Merseyside Killer" and "The Wolfman".

Navigating a Digital World

Before our interview, he was rich with anecdotes about how since his release he has had to adapt to a radically changed world.

When he was arrested, Margaret Thatcher was in Downing Street, the concept of the internet and Europe was still separated by the Iron Curtain.

He recalled watching the demolition of the Berlin Wall from a communal television in prison.

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

Modern Surprises

His imprisonment means he has been oblivious to the way so many facets of everyday life have changed - similar 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 pick up your money - you're thinking, 'Wow, 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 'mobile program'.

He first became acquainted with them when he was traveling on a bus shortly after his release and saw people twiddling with smartphones. He only understood they were phones when he saw someone put one to their ear.

Psychological Consequences

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

He described how after his freedom, 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 secure him into his cell.

"You've got to be at your door at a designated moment, otherwise the officers will yell at you", he said.

"I was just sitting there thinking, 'What's happening?'"

Demanding Explanation

But Mr Sullivan's optimism is balanced by a longing for answers about how he was charged with an infamous murder that he didn't commit, and a bewilderment about why he still has not had an admission of error.

"Everything is gone", 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 explanation 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 review of this matter today" because of "developments to investigative techniques and developments in the law over the last 40 years".

The force did refer some of Mr Sullivan's accusations to the police regulatory agency, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now examine his claims that officers physically abused him 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 explained about his basic aspiration - an ambition that he said he had given up of being able to realise at some points over his nearly four decades behind bars.

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

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

This system is capped at £1.3m, a limit which it is estimated his resulting award will get very close to.

But the process is not guaranteed, and it is protracted.

Andrew Malkinson, whose conviction for a rape he was innocent of was overturned in 2023, was only given an temporary payment earlier this year.

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

And so he is existing a simple existence, with his humble goals - although many think he is a compensation recipient.

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