Diane Sidall, who was only 21 at the time, was raped and murdered in 1986 while walking through Birkenhead in the early hours of August 2. Her death shocked the local community and led to an intense investigation.
A year after the murder, Peter Sullivan was blamed and convicted of the crime. He was handed a minimum sentence of 16 years before he could even apply for parole, and he was just 30 years old when he was sent to prison.
Most people in his situation might have given up hope after so many years behind bars, yet both Sullivan and Myatt pushed forward. Their persistence paid off when new DNA testing—made possible due to scientific progress—revealed that the crime had been committed by an unidentified man instead.
In May 2025, authorities finally announced that Sullivan would be released after nearly four decades of wrongful imprisonment.
“When they came back in with the verdict that my case had been quashed, [the probation officer] burst into tears first,” he said. “She turned around and said, ‘Peter, you’re going home’.”
Sullivan continued: “Next minute, bang, all the tears started running down my face and that was it, I went, ‘yes, justice has been done’.”
Now that he is free, Sullivan says he wants accountability for what happened to him and is calling for a formal apology.
“I can’t forgive them for what they’ve done to me because it’s going to be there with me for the rest of my life,” the 68-year-old said. “I’ve got to carry that burden until I can get an apology on what happened from everyone else who’s been involved with the case.”
Both of Sullivan’s parents died while he was still incarcerated. He also said he was denied permission to attend his mother’s funeral in 2013 because she was buried in the same cemetery as Sidall, the victim in his case.
In a statement to the BBC, Merseyside Police said it “regretted” that such a severe miscarriage of justice took place. However, the force maintained that the officers who handled the case acted within the law as it stood at the time.
