A man who was wrongly jailed for almost 40 years for a murder he didn’t commit has described being beaten by police officers and “bullied” into a false confession.
Peter Sullivan was handed a life sentence when he was convicted in 1987 of the brutal murder of 21-year-old florist Diane Sindall, in Bebington, near Merseyside.
Now 68-years-old, he had his conviction overturned earlier this year after new DNA tests revealed his innocence in what is thought to be the longest-running miscarriage of justice in British history.
Speaking for the first time since his release, Mr Sullivan has described his haunting experience of being falsely accused, and says he wants an apology from Merseyside Police.
Mr Sullivan, who has learning difficulties, claimed he had not been provided with an appropriate adult during interviews and was initially denied legal representation when he was arrested in 1986.
He initially denied the attack but later signed a confession, which he subsequently retracted.
"They were putting stuff into my mind, then they would send me back to my cell, then I'd come back and say what they wanted, not realising what I was doing at the time," he told the BBC.
He added he was physically assaulted by officers: “They threw a blanket over the top of me and they were hitting 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.”
He also claimed he was told if he did not confess to the murder, he would be charged with “35 other rapes” and denied food and sleep.
"All I can say, it was the bullying that forced me to throw my hands in, because I couldn't take it anymore,” he said.
Ms Sindall, who was engaged to be married, was walking to a petrol station after her van broke down when she was beaten to death, with her body left partially clothed and mutilated following a “frenzied” assault.
Semen which was discovered on her abdomen had been partly diluted by rainfall, and therefore had not been possible to test until 2024.
It was alleged during his 1987 trial that Mr Sullivan had spent the day drinking heavily after losing a darts match, and had armed himself with a crowbar before a chance encounter with Ms Sindall.
Ms Sindall’s clothing was found two weeks later Bidston Hill, and when asked by officers to mark where they had been found, Mr Sullivan told the BBC he pointed to the wrong place.
He said a detective said: “Come on Peter, you know better than that," and hinted at the "correct" location.
In his first interview since his release, he told BBC North West, aired on the Today programme he said he “can’t forgive” the police.
“That’s all I want is an apology with the reason why they done this to me … from Merseyside police and everyone else – I lost all my freedom, I lost my mother, since I was put in prison, I’ve lost my father, and it hurts because I wasn’t there for them,” he said.
“I have never been able to set myself to go and see my mum’s grave, and I can’t … carry on with my life if I can’t get an answer out of them, that is what I need the most is an answer from them, and that’s all I care about, that answer – why they done it to me?”
He added that he feels sorry for the family Ms Sindall’s, saying “I will be there by their side” if needed.
The case has been re-opened since his conviction was overturned, but no arrests have been made.
“I feel sorry for (Ms Sindall’s family), I really do feel sorry for them and what they’re going through at the moment, where they’re back at square one and not knowing who the person is that killed their daughter,” he said.
“I don’t know what to say to them, I am really sorry for what’s happened to their daughter, and if they need – if they want – my support when they go to court with the guy, when they find him, I will go to court with them, I will be there by their side 100 per cent, because I will be there for them.”
Merseyside Police said it regretted “that there has been a grave miscarriage of justice in this case”. The force added it was not aware about the new allegations of him being beaten or threats to charge him with additional offences.
It admitted that Mr Sullivan was refused legal advice for some of his police interviews.
