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For someone who's forfeited almost 40 years of his life as a result of a crime he had no involvement in, Peter Sullivan maintains a surprisingly optimistic attitude.

During our encounter last month, for what was his debriefing session since being freed from prison in May, he was enthusiastic and excited about getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the opening match since he was taken into custody in 1986.

That was the year of the violent killing of Diane Sindall in his birthplace of Birkenhead - an incident he said he only knew about because someone turned to him in a pub at the time and said, "apparently there's been a murder".

When he was found guilty the following year at Liverpool Crown Court - he was sentenced to a lifetime in some of Britain's toughest category A prisons where he would be hounded by his tabloid nicknames "Birkenhead's Monster", "River Mersey Murderer" and "Nocturnal Predator".

Adapting to a Digital World

Before our interview, he was abundant with tales about how since his release he has had to adapt to a completely different world.

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

He described watching the fall of the Berlin Wall from a communal television in prison.

Mr Sullivan told me how trips to the shops now show how "society has evolved" - from trying to figure out how self-checkouts function to realising that "rather than having a cheque book, you've got it on your phone".

Technological Surprises

His imprisonment means he has been oblivious to the way so many elements of everyday life have changed - comparable to someone who has been in hibernation 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, 'Wow, what's going on here?'"

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

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 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 unavoidable sense of institutionalisation.

He recalled how after his liberation, one morning in his flat he returned to his bedroom and sat down 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 specific hour, otherwise the officers will discipline you", he said.

"I found myself thinking, 'Why am I here?'"

Seeking Explanation

But Mr Sullivan's optimism is balanced by a longing for answers about how he was charged with an infamous murder that he had no part in, and a confusion about why he still has not had an apology.

"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 couldn't be present for them", he said.

"It's impossible to continue with my life if I can't get an answer off them."

"The sole thing I need, an apology [and to understand] the cause behind they've done this to me", he said.

Police Position

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

The force did submit some of Mr Sullivan's accusations to the police regulatory agency, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now investigate his claims that officers assaulted him and threatened 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".

Looking Ahead

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

"My only desire to do now is get on with my own life and carry on as I was before, and live my time out now".

His life ahead may be made more manageable by government monetary award, paid to victims of miscarriages of justice.

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

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

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

Convicted criminals 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 simple existence, with his modest ambitions - although many believe he is a future wealthy man.

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