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a man who was Wrongly imprisoned for almost 40 years He described being beaten by police officers and “intimidated” into false confessions for a murder he did not commit.
handed over to peter sullivan a life sentence When he was convicted of the brutal murder of a 21-year-old flower seller in 1987 diane sindallIn Bebington, near Merseyside.
Now he is 68 years old his faith is overturned Earlier this year new DNA tests revealed his innocence in the longest-running miscarriage of justice in British history.
Speaking for the first time since his release, Mr Sullivan has described his horrific experience of being falsely accused, and said he wants an apology from Merseyside Police.
Mr Sullivan, who has learning difficulties, claimed he was not made available to an appropriate adult during interview and was initially denied legal representation when he was arrested in 1986.
He initially denied the attack but later signed a confession, which he later retracted.
“They were putting things in my head, then they’d send me back to my cell, then I’d come back and say what they wanted, without realizing what I was doing at the time,” he told the BBC.
He said he was physically attacked by the officers: “They threw a blanket over me and they were hitting me with batons on top of the blanket to force me to cooperate with them,” he said.
“It was really hurtful, they were hitting me with leather.”
He also claimed that he was told that if he did not confess to the murder, he would be accused of “35 other rapes” and would be denied food and sleep.
He said, “All I can say is that it was the bullying that forced me to give up, because I couldn’t take it anymore.”
Ms Sindel, who was engaged to be married, was driving to a petrol station after her van broke down when she was beaten to death, partially clad and disfigured after the “frenzied” attack.
The semen found on his stomach was partially diluted due to rain, and so it was not possible to test it until 2024.
During his trial in 1987 it was alleged that Mr Sullivan had been drinking heavily for the day after losing a darts match, and that he had armed himself with a crowbar before his accidental encounter with Ms Sindel.
Ms Sindel’s clothes were found in Bidston Hill two weeks later, and when authorities asked him to tell where they were found, Mr Sullivan told the BBC he had pointed to the wrong place.
He said a detective said: “Come on Peter, you know better than that,” and indicated the “correct” location.
In his first interview after his release, he told BBC North West, broadcast on the Today programme, that he “cannot forgive” the police.
He said, “I just want an apology from Merseyside Police and everyone else for why they did this to me – I lost all my freedom, I lost my mother, I lost my father since I was jailed and it hurts because I wasn’t there with them.”
“I could never bring myself to go see my mother’s grave, and I can’t go on with my life if I don’t get an answer from her. What I need most is an answer from her, and all I care about is that answer, that answer – why did they do this to me?”
He said he was sorry for Ms Sindel’s family, adding that “I would be there for them” if needed.
The case has since been reopened since his conviction was overturned, but no arrests have been made.
He said, “I feel sorry for (Ms. Sindel’s family), I really feel sorry for them and what they’re going through right now, where they’re in a situation again and they don’t know who the person is that killed their daughter.”
“I don’t know what to say to them, I’m really sorry for what happened to their daughter, and if they need my support – if they want – to go to court with that guy, when they find him, I’ll go to court with them, I’ll be by their side 100 percent, because I’ll be there for them.”
Merseyside Police said it regretted “there has been a serious miscarriage of justice in this case”. The force said it had no information about new allegations of beating him or threats to charge him with additional crimes.
It acknowledged that Mr Sullivan had been refused legal advice for some of his police interviews.