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For someone who's lost nearly 40 years of his life because of a crime he had no involvement in, Peter Sullivan strikes a remarkably positive tone.

When I met him last month, for what was his first interview since being freed from prison in May, he was upbeat and looking forward to 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 violent killing of Diane Sindall in his local community of Birkenhead - an incident he said he only knew about because someone turned to him in a pub at the time and said, "allegedly there's been a murder".

When he was convicted the following year at Liverpool Crown Court - he was condemned to a indefinite period in some of Britain's most secure category A prisons where he would be persecuted by his tabloid nicknames "The Wirral Predator", "River Mersey Murderer" and "Lunar Killer".

Adapting to a Transformed World

Ahead of our conversation, he was full of stories about how since his release he has had to adjust to a completely different world.

When he was taken into custody, Margaret Thatcher was in Downing Street, the concept of the internet and Europe was still divided by the Iron Curtain.

He recalled watching the fall of the Berlin Wall from a public 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 work to realising that "instead of having a cheque book, you've got it on your phone".

Digital Challenges

His confinement 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 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, 'Goodness, what's going on here?'"

He now has a digital phone, after discovering doctor's appointments need to be scheduled on something he now knows is called an 'application'.

He first became familiar with them when he was traveling 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.

Psychological Consequences

Mr Sullivan's 14,000 days in confinement have also led to an inevitable sense of institutionalisation.

He remembered how after his release, one morning in his flat he returned to his bedroom and positioned himself on his bed, because he was subconsciously waiting for a prison officer to come and secure him into his cell.

"It's required to be at your door at a specific hour, otherwise the officers will discipline you", he said.

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

Demanding Explanation

But Mr Sullivan's optimism is mixed with a yearning for answers about how he was charged with an notorious murder that he had no part in, and a bewilderment 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.

"The pain is deep because I was absent for them", he said.

"I can't carry on 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.

Authorities Response

Merseyside Police said "minimal advantage to be gained for a re-examination of this matter today" because of "advancements to investigative techniques and developments 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 investigate 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 express regret, the force did not specifically respond the question, but as part of a comprehensive declaration it said: "The force regrets that there has been a grave miscarriage of justice in this case".

Moving Forward

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

"The sole objective to do now is continue with my own life and carry on as I was before, and live my time out now".

His life ahead may be made easier by government financial payment, paid to individuals affected of judicial errors.

This scheme is capped at £1.3m, a cap which it is believed his resulting award will get very approach.

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

Andrew Malkinson, whose sentence for a rape he did not commit was overturned in 2023, was only granted an provisional award earlier this year.

Convicted criminals who confess to their crimes and are released get a housing and some support regarding living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an innocent man, is not eligible for that help.

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

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