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Considering he who's forfeited almost 40 years of his life because of a crime he was innocent of, Peter Sullivan projects a unusually positive attitude.

In our conversation last month, for what was his first interview since being freed from prison in May, he was cheerful and looking forward to getting to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the initial occasion since he was detained in 1986.

That was the year of the sexual attack murder of Diane Sindall in his home town of Birkenhead - an incident he said he only knew about because someone approached him in a pub at the time and said, "apparently there's been a murder".

When he was convicted the following year at Liverpool Crown Court - he was condemned to a extended term in some of Britain's most secure category A prisons where he would be persecuted by his tabloid nicknames "Birkenhead's Monster", "River Mersey Murderer" and "Lunar Killer".

Adjusting to a Transformed World

Ahead of our conversation, he was rich with anecdotes about how since his release he has had to adjust to a completely different world.

When he was taken into custody, Margaret Thatcher was in Downing Street, few knew about the internet and Europe was still partitioned by the Iron Curtain.

He recalled watching the demolition of the Berlin Wall from a shared television in prison.

Mr Sullivan described 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".

Modern Challenges

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

"Following 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 pick up your money - you're thinking, 'Goodness, what's going on here?'"

He now has a smartphone, after finding out doctor's appointments need to be booked on something he now knows is called an 'application'.

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

Mental Consequences

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 walked back 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 certain time, otherwise the officers will yell at you", he said.

"I remained thinking, 'What's happening?'"

Demanding Explanation

But Mr Sullivan's optimism is tempered by a longing for answers about how he ended up being charged with an high-profile murder that he had no part in, and a confusion about why he still has not had an admission of error.

"Everything is gone", he said.

"I lost all my freedom, 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.

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

"That's all I want, an apology [and to understand] the reason why they've done this to me", he said.

Law Enforcement Position

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

The force did submit some of Mr Sullivan's claims to the police regulatory agency, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now look at 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 apologise, the force did not directly answer the question, but as part of a detailed response it said: "The force recognizes that there has been a significant injustice of justice in this case".

Moving Forward

Mr Sullivan told me about his modest ambition - an ambition that he said he had given up of being able to realise 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 prospects may be made more manageable by government financial payment, paid to victims of miscarriages of justice.

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

But the procedure is not guaranteed, and it is protracted.

Andrew Malkinson, whose conviction for a rape he did not commit was dismissed in 2023, was only given 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 compensation recipient.

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