British man who has spent 38 years in prison for murder has conviction overturned following new evidence

A 68-year-old man who has spent 38 years in prison for murder has had his conviction overturned thanks to new evidence.

Peter Sullivan is believed to be the UK's longest-serving victim of a miscarriage of justice, and he had spent 17 years attempting to get his conviction overturned.

Sullivan was convicted of the murder of 21-year-old Diane Sindall, a woman who was found dead in Bebington, Merseyside, in August 1986.

A month later Sullivan was arrested and the following year he was convicted of her murder, but he maintained his innocence and has spent years challenging his conviction.

Having spent the majority of his life behind bars, Sullivan will now be a free man after the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) found that DNA samples taken from the place where Diane Sindall's body was found were not a match for the man.

A memorial for Diane Sindall, who was murdered in Merseyside in 1986 (PA)

First trying to challenge his conviction in 2008, the CCRC decided not to refer his case to the Court of Appeal, and Sullivan's own appeal bid was lost in 2019.

In 2021 he once again asked the CCRC to refer his case, and the Court of Appeal was told that the DNA evidence showed whomever killed Sindall 'was not the defendant'.

The Crown Prosecution Service said there was 'no credible basis on which the appeal can be opposed' and the new evidence was 'sufficient fundamentally to cast doubt on the safety of the conviction'.

Sullivan, who was following proceedings via video link in HMP Wakefield, appeared to weep as his conviction was quashed, while a woman said 'we've done it'.

Since the case of Diane Sindall's murder was reopened in 2023, Merseyside Police have eliminated 260 men from their enquiries and none of Sindall's relatives are implicated.

Peter Sullivan has spent 38 years in prison, but at last his conviction has been overturned (Police Handout)

Detective Chief Superintendent Karen Jaundrill said: “Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Diane Sindall who continue to mourn her loss and will have to endure the implications of this new development so many years after her murder.

“We are committed to doing everything within our power to find whom the DNA, which was left at the scene, belongs to.

“Unfortunately, there is no match for the DNA identified on the national DNA database.

“We have enlisted specialist skills and expertise from the National Crime Agency, and with their support we are proactively trying to identify the person the DNA profile belongs to, and extensive and painstaking inquiries are under way.”