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For someone who's lost approximately 40 years of his life because of a crime he didn't commit, Peter Sullivan projects a remarkably optimistic attitude.

During our encounter last month, for what was his initial media appearance since being released from prison in May, he was enthusiastic and eagerly anticipating 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 sexual attack murder of Diane Sindall in his home town of Birkenhead - an event he said he was merely aware of because someone spoke 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 destined to a extended term in some of Britain's most secure category A prisons where he would be tormented by his tabloid nicknames "The Wirral Predator", "Merseyside Killer" and "Lunar Killer".

Adapting to a Transformed World

Prior to our discussion, he was rich with anecdotes about how since his exoneration he has had to acclimate to a radically changed world.

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

He described watching the demolition of the Berlin Wall from a public television in prison.

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

Digital Surprises

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

"Following 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 receive your money - you're thinking, 'Wow, what's going on here?'"

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

He first became familiar with them when he was sitting on a bus shortly after his release and saw people using smartphones. He only understood they were phones when he saw someone put one to their ear.

Mental Impact

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

He described how after his freedom, 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 confine him into his cell.

"You've got to be at your door at a specific hour, otherwise the officers will go off at you", he said.

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

Demanding Explanation

But Mr Sullivan's positivity is mixed with a yearning for answers about how he ended up being charged with an high-profile murder that he didn't commit, and a confusion about why he still has not had an expression of regret.

"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 was absent for them", he said.

"I can't carry on with my life if I can't get an response off them."

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

Police Response

Merseyside Police said "there would be little benefit to be gained for a reassessment of this matter today" because of "the changes to investigative techniques and progress in the law over the last 40 years".

The force did refer some of Mr Sullivan's allegations to the police oversight body, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now look at his claims that officers physically abused him and threatened to link him to other crimes if he didn't plead guilty to Diane Sindall's murder.

When asked if it would apologise, 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 serious failure of justice in this case".

Future Prospects

Mr Sullivan told me about his simple goal - an ambition that he said he had lost hope 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 move forward as I was before, and live my time out now".

His future may be made more manageable by government financial payment, paid to wrongly convicted people of judicial errors.

This system is limited at £1.3m, a maximum which it is estimated his final compensation will get very close to.

But the system is not automatic, and it is time-consuming.

Andrew Malkinson, whose sentence for a rape he did not commit was dismissed in 2023, was only given an interim compensation payout earlier this year.

Admitted offenders who confess to their crimes and are released get a accommodation and some assistance for living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an innocent man, is not entitled to that help.

And so he is existing a basic lifestyle, with his humble goals - although many think he is a future wealthy man.

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