Man cleared of murder after serving 38 years in jail

Telegraph

13-05-2025

A man who has served almost 40 years in prison for murder is set to be freed after the Court of Appeal quashed his conviction.
Peter Sullivan, 68, who has always protested his innocence, was found guilty in 1987 of the murder of Diane Sindall who was killed on her way home from work in Merseyside.
His case was referred to the Court of Appeal after fresh DNA evidence came to light casting doubt on his involvement.
It is believed to be the longest-running miscarriage of justice affecting a living prisoner in UK history.
Sindall, a 21-year-old bride-to-be and florist from the Wirral, had run out of petrol while driving home and is understood to have decided to walk to the nearest garage to fill up a jerrycan.
She was then set upon, sexually assaulted and beaten to death in an alley. She was left with injuries that Merseyside Police detectives described at the time as the worst they had ever seen.
Mr Sullivan was dubbed the 'Beast of Birkenhead' or the 'wolfman' after the killing following the discovery of bite marks on the victim's body.
Some of Sindall's belongings were later found burnt in woodland on Bidston Hill, about five miles away.
Mr Sullivan, who was described as a 'quiet loner', was arrested and repeatedly interviewed without having a solicitor present.
He initially made a confession but later retracted it.
On the night of the murder, Mr Sullivan, an unemployed labourer from Birkenhead, had been playing darts at a local pub and drinking heavily.
At his sentencing, the trial judge described it as a 'crime of considerable abomination and outrage'.
But there were questions over the way Merseyside detectives had questioned Mr Sullivan during interviews amid claims the Police and Criminal Evidence Act had not been followed.
Mr Sullivan first raised his case with the Criminal Cases Review Commission - the body set up to look for potential miscarriages of justice - in 2008 but was rejected.
He applied again in 2021 after new forensics work discovered the DNA of an unknown man at the scene.
Experts believe it originated from traces of semen that had been recovered from the crime scene and stored.
Merseyside Police reopened the case but the sample did not match any stored on the national DNA database used by police.
Mr Sullivan watched proceedings via videolink from HMP Wakefield, where he is currently held.
As the judgment was handed down by Mr Justice Holroyde and his conviction was formally quashed Mr Sullivan could be seen holding his hand to his mouth and appearing tearful.
In court members of the public embraced and one woman tearfully said 'we've done it' .
The court was told that Mr Sullivan must now be released from custody. The Crown Prosecution Service had earlier indicated it would not seek a retrial.