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Considering he who's lost almost 40 years of his life because of a crime he didn't commit, Peter Sullivan maintains a remarkably optimistic outlook.

When I met him last month, for what was his debriefing session since being released from prison in May, he was upbeat and excited about getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the first time since he was arrested in 1986.

That was the year of the sexual attack murder of Diane Sindall in his birthplace 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 sentenced the following year at Liverpool Crown Court - he was condemned to a indefinite period in some of Britain's most secure category A prisons where he would be tormented by his tabloid nicknames "The Wirral Predator", "River Mersey Murderer" and "The Wolfman".

Navigating a Digital World

Before our interview, he was abundant with tales about how since his freedom he has had to acclimate to a completely different 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 explained watching the demolition of the Berlin Wall from a shared television in prison.

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

Technological Challenges

His incarceration means he has been oblivious to the way so many elements of everyday life have changed - almost like someone who has been unconscious since the 1980s.

"After spending 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 collect your money - you're thinking, 'Amazing, what's going on here?'"

He now has a mobile device, after finding out 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 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.

Emotional Impact

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

He recalled how after his release, 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.

"You must be at your door at a designated moment, otherwise the officers will discipline you", he said.

"I was just sitting there thinking, 'Why am I here?'"

Seeking Explanation

But Mr Sullivan's positivity is tempered by a yearning for answers about how he was charged with an infamous murder that he didn't commit, and a bewilderment about why he still has not had an admission of error.

"My entire life vanished", he said.

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

"The pain is deep because I was absent for them", he said.

"I cannot proceed 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.

Police Position

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

The force did forward 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 threatened to link him to other crimes if he didn't plead guilty to Diane Sindall's murder.

When asked if it would issue an apology, the force did not clearly address the question, but as part of a lengthy statement it said: "The force acknowledges that there has been a serious failure of justice in this case".

Future Prospects

Mr Sullivan shared about his basic aspiration - an ambition that he said he had abandoned expectation of being able to accomplish at some points over his almost forty years behind bars.

"My only desire to do now is proceed with my own life and progress as I was before, and enjoy my remaining years now".

His life ahead may be made less challenging by government financial payment, paid to individuals affected of judicial errors.

This program is capped at £1.3m, a limit which it is believed his eventual payout will get very close to.

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

Andrew Malkinson, whose guilty verdict for a rape he did not commit was dismissed in 2023, was only awarded an provisional award earlier this year.

Guilty prisoners who confess to their crimes and are released get a housing and some help with living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an wrongly convicted individual, is not qualified for that help.

And so he is surviving a simple existence, with his basic aspirations - 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 forfeiting 38 years of your life".