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For someone who's lost nearly 40 years of his life due to a crime he had no involvement in, Peter Sullivan projects a unusually hopeful outlook.

During our encounter last month, for what was his initial media appearance since being freed from prison in May, he was cheerful and eagerly anticipating getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the first time since he was taken into custody in 1986.

That was the year of the brutal homicide of Diane Sindall in his birthplace of Birkenhead - an event he said he only knew about because someone spoke to him in a pub at the time and said, "reportedly 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 highest-security category A prisons where he would be tormented by his tabloid nicknames "The Beast of Birkenhead", "River Mersey Murderer" and "The Wolfman".

Adapting to a Transformed World

Before our interview, he was abundant with tales 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, no one had heard of the internet and Europe was still separated by the Iron Curtain.

He explained watching the fall of the Berlin Wall from a shared television in prison.

Mr Sullivan explained how trips to the shops now show how "society has evolved" - from trying to figure out how self-checkouts function 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 elements of everyday life have evolved - almost like someone who has been asleep since the 1980s.

"Having endured 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 collect your money - you're thinking, 'Goodness, what's going on here?'"

He now has a smartphone, after learning 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 traveling on a bus shortly after his freedom and saw people operating 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 inevitable sense of prison conditioning.

He described how after his liberation, 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 secure him into his cell.

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

"I remained thinking, 'What am I doing?'"

Seeking Explanation

But Mr Sullivan's hope is balanced by a longing 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 admission of error.

"My entire life vanished", he said.

"Freedom disappeared, 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 answer off them."

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

Law Enforcement 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 submit 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 beat him up and threatened to link him to other crimes if he didn't plead guilty 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 lengthy statement it said: "The force recognizes that there has been a significant injustice of justice in this case".

Future Prospects

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 nearly four decades behind bars.

"The sole objective to do now is get on with my own life and move forward as I was before, and enjoy my remaining years now".

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

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

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

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

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

And so he is existing a basic lifestyle, with his humble goals - although many think he is a compensation recipient.

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