Man Freed After 38 Years as Murder Conviction Overturned

Man Freed After 38 Years as Murder Conviction Overturned

What Happened

Peter Sullivan, who spent nearly 40 years in prison for the 1986 murder of Diane Sindall in Birkenhead, has had his conviction quashed after new DNA evidence emerged identifying an unknown attacker.

The Court of Appeal heard that recent testing of preserved semen samples found a DNA profile not matching Mr Sullivan or anyone previously linked to the case. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) referred the case back to the courts after concluding the evidence warranted a fresh look.

Mr Sullivan, now aged 68, appeared via video link from HMP Wakefield and broke down in tears as the judges confirmed his conviction would be overturned. He is believed to be the longest-serving victim of a miscarriage of justice involving a living prisoner in modern British legal history.

Ms Sindall, aged 21, was attacked while walking home from a bar shift in the early hours of 2 August 1986. She was sexually assaulted, subjected to multiple blows to the head, and her burning clothes were later found on Bidston Hill.

At the time, Mr Sullivan became a suspect after witnesses saw someone known as “Pete” fleeing the scene. He gave conflicting accounts of his movements and made what were described as “confessions” — despite having learning difficulties, no solicitor, and no appropriate adult present during questioning.

What Next

Mr Sullivan was released from HMP Wakefield shortly after the ruling, ending a decades-long ordeal. In a statement read by his solicitor, he said: “What happened to me was very wrong but does not detract from the fact that what happened was a heinous and most terrible loss of life. The truth shall set you free.”

His sister, Kim Smith, expressed sympathy for Diane Sindall’s family, saying: “No-one has won here… They’ve lost their daughter. We’ve got Peter back, and now we have to rebuild his life.”

Merseyside Police have reopened the investigation but confirmed the DNA profile does not match anyone in the national database, Diane’s fiancé at the time, or anyone in her family. Over 260 men have been tested since 2023, and detectives are working alongside the National Crime Agency to trace the unknown suspect.

Det Ch Supt Karen Jaundrill said extensive and painstaking efforts were underway to find the person responsible, describing the new DNA profile as a “vital piece of evidence”.

Media Reaction

ABC News reports despite spending four decades behind bars for a crime he did not commit, Peter Sullivan says he’s not ‘angry or bitter.’

The Independent says the pensioner spent nearly 40 years behind bars in what is thought to be the “longest-running miscarriage of justice in British history.”

Metro says Peter Sullivan was branded the “Beast of Birkenhead over the killing of Diane Sindall, 21, in a brutal sex attack” – he spent decades fighting fir his freedom.

BBC News asks why it took so long to free Peter Sullivan noting the only miscarriage of justice that took longer to be acknowledged by the criminal justice system was when Derek Bentley’s conviction for murder was overturned in 1998 – and he had been hanged in 1953, a year after he was convicted.