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Considering he who's lost almost 40 years of his life due to a crime he didn't commit, Peter Sullivan strikes a unusually hopeful tone.

In our conversation last month, for what was his initial media appearance since being liberated 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 arrested in 1986.

That was the year of the violent killing of Diane Sindall in his local community of Birkenhead - an occurrence he said he had limited information regarding 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 destined to a lifetime in some of Britain's toughest category A prisons where he would be tormented by his tabloid nicknames "The Wirral Predator", "River Mersey Murderer" and "Lunar Killer".

Adapting to a Modern World

Before our interview, he was rich with anecdotes about how since his release he has had to acclimate to a completely different world.

When he was taken into custody, Margaret Thatcher was in Downing Street, few knew about the internet and Europe was still separated by the Iron Curtain.

He recalled watching the fall of the Berlin Wall from a public television in prison.

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

Digital Surprises

His imprisonment means he has been oblivious to the way so many aspects of everyday life have changed - similar to someone who has been unconscious since the 1980s.

"Having endured 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 smartphone, after learning doctor's appointments need to be booked 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 freedom 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 prison have also led to an predictable sense of institutionalisation.

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 lock him back into his cell.

"It's required 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?'"

Seeking Answers

But Mr Sullivan's optimism is mixed with a longing for answers about how he ended up being charged with an notorious murder that he had no part in, and a confusion about why he still has not had an admission of error.

"I've lost everything", he said.

"My liberty was taken, I lost my mother since I've been in prison, I've lost my father.

"It hurts 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."

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

Authorities Response

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

The force did refer some of Mr Sullivan's claims to the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now examine his claims that officers beat him up and intimidated to link him to other crimes if he refused to admit to Diane Sindall's murder.

When asked if it would issue an apology, the force did not directly answer the question, but as part of a detailed response it said: "The force regrets that there has been a grave miscarriage of justice in this case".

Moving Forward

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

"My only desire to do now is proceed 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 monetary award, paid to wrongly convicted people of wrongful convictions.

This system is restricted at £1.3m, a cap which it is thought his final compensation will get very approach.

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

Andrew Malkinson, whose sentence for a rape he had no involvement in was overturned in 2023, was only awarded an temporary payment earlier this year.

Guilty prisoners who confess to 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 eligible for that help.

And so he is living a basic lifestyle, with his basic aspirations - although many think he is a future wealthy man.

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