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Considering he who's forfeited almost 40 years of his life because of a crime he didn't commit, Peter Sullivan projects a surprisingly hopeful outlook.

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 arrested in 1986.

That was the year of the brutal homicide of Diane Sindall in his local community of Birkenhead - an event he said he was merely aware of because someone spoke to 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 sentenced to a lifetime in some of Britain's toughest category A prisons where he would be persecuted by his tabloid nicknames "The Beast of Birkenhead", "The Mersey Ripper" and "Nocturnal Predator".

Adjusting to a Digital World

Ahead of our conversation, 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 divided by the Iron Curtain.

He recalled 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 operate to realising that "instead of having a cheque book, you've got it on your phone".

Technological Surprises

His confinement means he has been oblivious to the way so many elements of everyday life have changed - similar to someone who has been in hibernation since the 1980s.

"Having endured 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 collect 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 scheduled 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 freedom and saw people using smartphones. He only recognized they were phones when he saw someone put one to their ear.

Psychological Impact

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

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

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

"I found myself thinking, 'What am I doing?'"

Seeking Answers

But Mr Sullivan's optimism is tempered by a longing for answers about how he ended up being charged with an notorious murder that he didn't commit, and a perplexity 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.

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

"My only request, an apology [and to understand] the explanation for they've done this to me", he said.

Law Enforcement Position

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

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

When asked if it would issue an apology, the force did not specifically respond the question, but as part of a lengthy statement it said: "The force regrets that there has been a significant injustice of justice in this case".

Future Prospects

Mr Sullivan told me about his basic aspiration - an ambition that he said he had abandoned expectation of being able to realise at some points over his almost forty 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 less challenging by government financial payment, paid to individuals affected of miscarriages of justice.

This system is restricted at £1.3m, a cap which it is estimated his eventual payout will get very approach.

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

Andrew Malkinson, whose guilty verdict for a rape he was innocent of was quashed in 2023, was only granted an interim compensation payout earlier this year.

Guilty prisoners who acknowledge their crimes and are released get a housing and some help with living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an innocent man, is not qualified for that help.

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

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