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Considering he who's sacrificed nearly 40 years of his life as a result of a crime he didn't commit, Peter Sullivan strikes a unusually optimistic attitude.

During our encounter last month, for what was his initial media appearance since being freed from prison in May, he was upbeat and looking forward to 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 sexual attack murder of Diane Sindall in his local community of Birkenhead - an occurrence he said he was merely aware of because someone turned to him in a pub at the time and said, "reportedly there's been a murder".

When he was convicted 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 persecuted by his tabloid nicknames "The Wirral Predator", "River Mersey Murderer" and "The Wolfman".

Adjusting to a Modern World

Before our interview, he was full of stories about how since his exoneration he has had to adjust to a completely different world.

When he was arrested, 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 understand how self-checkouts work to realising that "instead of having a cheque book, you've got it on your phone".

Digital Adjustments

His confinement means he has been unaware of the way so many facets of everyday life have evolved - similar 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 pick up your money - you're thinking, 'Goodness, what's going on here?'"

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

He first became knowledgeable about them when he was sitting 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.

Mental Effects

Mr Sullivan's 14,000 days in custody have also led to an unavoidable sense of system dependency.

He recalled how after his liberation, one morning in his flat he went back to his bedroom and sat down on his bed, because he was subconsciously waiting for a prison officer to come and confine him into his cell.

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

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

Demanding Closure

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

"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.

"It pains me because I was absent for them", he said.

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

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

Law Enforcement Response

Merseyside Police said "minimal advantage to be gained for a re-examination 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 claims to the police regulatory agency, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who will now investigate his claims that officers assaulted him and intimidated 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 directly answer the question, but as part of a comprehensive declaration it said: "The force recognizes that there has been a serious failure of justice in this case".

Looking Ahead

Mr Sullivan told me about his simple goal - an ambition that he said he had lost hope of being able to accomplish at some points over his nearly four decades behind bars.

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

His life ahead may be made less challenging by government monetary award, paid to wrongly convicted people of judicial errors.

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

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

Andrew Malkinson, whose conviction for a rape he had no involvement in was quashed in 2023, was only given an interim compensation payout earlier this year.

Admitted offenders who acknowledge their crimes and are released get a place to live and some support regarding living expenses. Mr Sullivan, as an innocent man, is not entitled to that help.

And so he is living a basic lifestyle, with his modest ambitions - although many consider he is a millionaire in waiting.

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