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Considering he who's lost almost 40 years of his life as a result of a crime he had no involvement in, Peter Sullivan maintains a unusually hopeful tone.

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 opening match since he was arrested in 1986.

That was the year of the violent killing of Diane Sindall in his birthplace of Birkenhead - an incident 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 lifetime in some of Britain's toughest category A prisons where he would be hounded by his tabloid nicknames "Birkenhead's Monster", "River Mersey Murderer" and "The Wolfman".

Adapting to a Digital World

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

When he was arrested, Margaret Thatcher was in Downing Street, the concept of the internet and Europe was still divided by the Iron Curtain.

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

Mr Sullivan described how trips to the shops now show how "the world has transformed" - from trying to figure out how self-checkouts operate to realising that "rather than having a cheque book, you've got it on your phone".

Modern Surprises

His imprisonment means he has been ignorant of the way so many facets of everyday life have transformed - comparable to someone who has been unconscious 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 receive your money - you're thinking, 'Goodness, what's going on here?'"

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

He first became knowledgeable about them when he was sitting on a bus shortly after his liberation and saw people operating smartphones. He only understood they were phones when he saw someone put one to their ear.

Emotional Effects

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

He recalled how after his release, one morning in his flat he returned 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 was just sitting there thinking, 'What am I doing?'"

Desiring Explanation

But Mr Sullivan's positivity is mixed with a desire for answers about how he came to be charged with an infamous murder that he didn't commit, and a bewilderment about why he still has not had an admission of error.

"I've lost everything", 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 couldn't be present for them", he said.

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

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

Law Enforcement Statement

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

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

When asked if it would apologise, the force did not directly answer the question, but as part of a comprehensive declaration it said: "The force recognizes that there has been a grave miscarriage of justice in this case".

Looking Ahead

Mr Sullivan explained about his basic aspiration - an ambition that he said he had given up of being able to accomplish at some points over his approximately 38 years behind bars.

"All I want to do now is continue with my own life and progress as I was before, and live my time out now".

His life ahead may be made easier by government monetary award, paid to individuals affected of judicial errors.

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

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

Andrew Malkinson, whose guilty verdict for a rape he had no involvement in was quashed in 2023, was only given an provisional award earlier this year.

Guilty prisoners who admit to their crimes and are released get a place to live and some assistance for living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an exonerated person, is not qualified for that help.

And so he is surviving a modest life, with his humble goals - although many think he is a millionaire in waiting.

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