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For someone who's sacrificed almost 40 years of his life as a result of a crime he had no involvement in, Peter Sullivan projects a remarkably optimistic outlook.

In our conversation last month, for what was his first interview since being released from prison in May, he was cheerful and eagerly anticipating getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the initial occasion since he was detained in 1986.

That was the year of the violent killing of Diane Sindall in his home town of Birkenhead - an occurrence he said he was merely aware of because someone spoke to him in a pub at the time and said, "reportedly there's been a murder".

When he was found guilty the following year at Liverpool Crown Court - he was condemned to a extended term in some of Britain's highest-security category A prisons where he would be hounded by his tabloid nicknames "The Wirral Predator", "The Mersey Ripper" and "Lunar Killer".

Adapting to a Modern World

Before our interview, he was full of stories about how since his freedom he has had to acclimate to a radically changed 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 "everything's changed" - from trying to work out how self-checkouts work to realising that "rather than having a cheque book, you've got it on your phone".

Modern Surprises

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

"After spending 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, 'Goodness, what's going on here?'"

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

He first became knowledgeable about them when he was riding 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 Effects

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

He described how after his liberation, 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 confine him into his cell.

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

"I remained thinking, 'Why am I here?'"

Desiring Closure

But Mr Sullivan's positivity is tempered by a yearning 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 pains me because I wasn't there for them", he said.

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

"That's all I want, an apology [and to understand] the cause behind they've done this to me", he said.

Law Enforcement Position

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 progress in the law over the last 40 years".

The force did submit some of Mr Sullivan's accusations to the police oversight body, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now look at his claims that officers physically abused him and intimidated to link him to other crimes if he didn't plead guilty to Diane Sindall's murder.

When asked if it would apologise, the force did not clearly address the question, but as part of a lengthy statement it said: "The force acknowledges that there has been a grave miscarriage of justice in this case".

Looking Ahead

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

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

His future may be made less challenging by government monetary award, paid to individuals affected of wrongful convictions.

This scheme is capped at £1.3m, a limit which it is estimated his eventual payout will get very close to.

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

Andrew Malkinson, whose conviction for a rape he did not commit was overturned in 2023, was only awarded an temporary payment earlier this year.

Guilty prisoners who admit to their crimes and are released get a accommodation and some support regarding living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an innocent man, is not entitled to that help.

And so he is living a modest life, with his basic aspirations - although many consider he is a millionaire in waiting.

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