Police bullied me into admitting murder, says man wrongly jailed for 38 years

In his first interview since being released, the perpetrator of a 38-year miscarriage of justice has said he was assaulted by police officers and bullied into falsely confessing to murder. Peter Sullivan said he was stitched up in 1986 after the murder of Diane Sindall, who was ambushed and beaten to death during a tumultuous sexual assault in Birkenhead, Wirral, according to the BBC. Since new DNA tests were carried out, Mr Sullivan, who is learning difficulties, had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal in May. He now requires an apology from Merseyside Police. Although the force regretted that a grave miscarriage of justice had occurred, it continued to operate within the rules at the time, according to the department, its officers continued to act within the guidelines

Mr Sullivan, 68, said he wanted an explanation for why detectives picked me out from an undisclosed location in order to shield his identity.

I can't excuse them for what they've done to me because the rest of my life will be there for the rest,

he said, adding that he had lost everything since going to prison. "I've got to carry the burden until I get an apology.

Mr Sullivan and his family were haunted by tabloid press nicknames such as The Beast of Birkenhead, The Mersey Ripper, and The Wolfman.The names will always stick with me because I've never been anywhere like that,

he said. Mr Sullivan said that, through moments of near-hopelessness, he was always supported by his parents, who died years before he could clearly identify his name.

My mother turned around to me before she died,he said, adding,I want you to fight this lawsuit because you did nothing wrong. Mr Sullivan said he was refused admission to his mother's funeral in 2013 because she was buried in the same cemetery as Miss Sindall, one of many difficult times from his time in prison.

Miss Sindall, a 21-year-old florist from Birkenhead, was discovered with horrific injuries in an alley off Borough Road, Birkenheaded, on August 2, 1986. Her partially burned clothing was discovered on Bidston Hill, a large area of woodland about an hour's walk from the alley two weeks later. Witnesses came forward to accuse Mr Sullivan in a bar near the murder scene that night, while others reported seeing a man matching his description near Bidston Hill the following day. He was arrested on suspicion of murder on September 23, 1986, and was interviewed 22 times in the ensuing four weeks.

He was refused legal assistance for the first seven police interviews and found the situation very difficult.They were throwing stuff into my mind and then they would call me back to my phone, and then I'd come back and say what they wanted and not knowing what I was doing at the time," he said.

'They leathered me'

Mr Sullivan claimed he was beaten in his cell twice by police officers twice during that time.

They threw a blanket over the top of me and they were shaming me on top of the blanket with the truncheons to try and get me to co-operate with them,

he said. It really hurt, they were leathering me. Mr Sullivan said he was told if he did not confess to 35 other rapes that he would be charged with 35 others rapings, and that if not, he'd be charged. Despite police detention records indicating that he was learning difficulties, he wasn't given an appropriate adult to help him understand the interrogation.

All I can say, it was bullying that compelled me to put my hands in because I couldn't take it anymore,

Mr Sullivan wondered why he would confess to a murder he did not commit. The first time he confessed was not recorded, according to appeal court records, and no solicitor was present. Other police interviews were recorded. Merseyside Police said it was not aware of the charges involving beatings or assaults in other crimes, and that arrests or threats to accuse him with other offences had not been released at the time, and said current records did not have any information regarding this. Since 1986, the department's recommendations on appropriate adults had been enhanced. The force accepted that legal assistance was initially refused for interviews, adding that officers were afraid of divulging any aspects of the probe to a solicitor in the event that evidence was destroyed. Mr Sullivan was also told that he did not have to speak to officers unless he wanted to do so. As he spoke to the BBC, Sarah Myatt, Mr Sullivan's solicitor of more than 20 years, sat alongside him.

I think from what he's told me, he just hit a breaking point with it,

she said. During one interview, Mr Sullivan was asked to mark where he had left the clothes on Bidston Hill. Come on Peter, you know better than that, he said as he led him to the wrong location, before hinting at the right location. Ms Myatt said on the maps of Bidston Hill that Mr Sullivan later wrote, this is all lies.I think that's quite poignant,

she said. The maps and transcripts, which the BBC has not seen, were all served on the court, according to Merseyside Police. Officers who were

testing to figure out the legitimacy of his admissions,

the force said. Although Mr Sullivan later retracted his confessions, the police and prosecution relied on bite mark evidence, a now widely discredited field of forensic science. That incident, which was carried out before DNA testing was widely available, was enough to convice a jury in Liverpool Crown Court that he went from a self-confessed

petty theft

to a convicted murderer on November 5, 1987. Mr Sullivan recalled the guilty verdicts:

My sister died in the courtroom and the next minute, that was it.

I was arrested from the courthouse, but I sat in the cell and cried my eyes out over the offence I hadn't committed.

I knew from then that this was going to be a hell of a case to try and fight to get myself out of this situation.

His conviction was for a minimum of 16 years before he was eligible for parole, but Mr Sullivan maintained his innocence, lessening his chances of being released. For someone who was branded both a violent murderer and a sex offender, prison was particularly difficult.

I've been battered in jail for the offence that I was in jail,

he said. However, he said that reporting such brutality was not a choice because

you're a grass, and that means you're going to get a lot worse.

'You're going home'

When the Criminal Case Review Commission (which was established to look for miscarriages of justice) ordered new testing of semen samples discovered on Miss Sindall's body in 1986, the end of his nightmare began in 2023. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has opted not to challenge the DNA findings ahead of a new appeal, opening the way for Mr Sullivan's release. Mr Sullivan was watching via video-link from HMP Wakefield in May 2025, sitting next to his probation officer when the appeal decision was delivered down.

I'm back in with the decision that my case had been dismissed, [the probation officer] burst into tears first,

he said. You're going home, you're turning around, she said.

All the tears started running down my face, and that was it,

I said, 'yes, justice has been done.

The outside world has been a baffling place for a man who went into jail when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister and the internet was unheard of.

I was watching the cars go by, and I've never seen so many different cars in my life on the road,he said.It was scary to see them all changed and everything. Since being released, he has often found himself in his bedroom waiting for a roll-call, a difficult habit to overcome after nearly 40 years. Mr Sullivan said he felt completely sorry for Miss Sindall's family, who, he said, are back to square one in their fight for justice.

I've been through the same pain of being in jail because I've also been arrested from my family and others for something I haven't done,

he said. Merseyside Police said that due to the substantial changes in the legislation and investigation practices that have existed since 1986, there would be no benefit in any formal investigation of how the case was investigated. Following the appeal decision, it said it referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, but no misconduct was disclosed. Although the Court of Appeal accepted the new DNA results, other appeals were dismissed.

The trial was brought on the basis of all the facts available to us at the time,

its legal services director Nick Price said.

The case of Miss Sindall's murder has been reopened, but no arrests have been made. Mr Sullivan's case is still waiting for compensation, which has been capped by the government at £1. 3m for wrongful convictions.

You should not say that for losing 38 years of your life,