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For someone who's lost approximately 40 years of his life as a result of a crime he had no involvement in, Peter Sullivan strikes a surprisingly hopeful tone.

In our conversation last month, for what was his debriefing session since being liberated from prison in May, he was enthusiastic and eagerly anticipating getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the first time since he was detained in 1986.

That was the year of the sexual attack murder of Diane Sindall in his home town of Birkenhead - an event he said he was merely aware of because someone approached him in a pub at the time and said, "apparently there's been a murder".

When he was convicted the following year at Liverpool Crown Court - he was destined to a indefinite period in some of Britain's most secure category A prisons where he would be tormented by his tabloid nicknames "Birkenhead's Monster", "Merseyside Killer" and "Lunar Killer".

Navigating a Transformed World

Prior to our discussion, he was rich with anecdotes about how since his freedom he has had to adjust to a fundamentally altered world.

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

He explained watching the collapse of the Berlin Wall from a communal television in prison.

Mr Sullivan told me how trips to the shops now show how "the world has transformed" - from trying to work out how self-checkouts operate 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 - similar 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 pick up your money - you're thinking, 'Wow, what's going on here?'"

He now has a mobile device, after learning doctor's appointments need to be booked on something he now knows is called an 'app'.

He first became knowledgeable about 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.

Emotional Impact

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

He described how after his liberation, 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 lock him back into his cell.

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

"I was just sitting there thinking, 'What am I doing?'"

Seeking Closure

But Mr Sullivan's optimism is balanced by a desire for answers about how he ended up being charged with an high-profile murder that he was innocent of, and a perplexity about why he still has not had an apology.

"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 hurts because I couldn't be present 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.

Authorities Position

Merseyside Police said "limited value to be gained for a review of this matter today" because of "the changes to investigative techniques and progress in the law over the last 40 years".

The force did forward some of Mr Sullivan's allegations to the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now examine his claims that officers assaulted him and warned 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 directly answer the question, but as part of a lengthy statement it said: "The force recognizes that there has been a grave miscarriage of justice in this case".

Looking Ahead

Mr Sullivan explained about his basic aspiration - an ambition that he said he had abandoned expectation 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 live my time out now".

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

This scheme is capped at £1.3m, a maximum which it is thought his final compensation will get very approach.

But the system is not immediate, and it is lengthy.

Andrew Malkinson, whose guilty verdict for a rape he had no involvement in was dismissed in 2023, was only granted an provisional award earlier this year.

Convicted criminals who acknowledge their crimes and are released get a housing and some support regarding living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an wrongly convicted individual, is not qualified for that help.

And so he is surviving a modest life, with his modest ambitions - although many believe he is a future wealthy man.

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