Peter Sullivan’s Birkenhead Birkenhead’s Birkenhead convicted of revoking new DNA evidence after 38 years in prison for murdering flower shop Diane Sindall – in Britain’s longest judicial miscarriage

A former worker, who was sentenced to jail for the last 38 years after being convicted of murder at a young flower shop, was released today after finding new DNA evidence in court that made his conviction unsafe.

Peter Sullivan was sentenced to jail in 1986 for murder by 21-year-old Diane Sindall, but today three senior judges canceled his conviction after hearing DNA evidence that the killer was someone else in the appeals court.

They found the 68-year-old had learning difficulties, marking the longest judicial abortion in British history.

Mr. Sullivan watched the hearing remotely from HMP Wakefield, with his arm folded on his chest and three judges led by Lord Holroyde announced their decision after the hearing.

“Forty years ago, I lost my freedom from crime. Now, we know how different the times we live in are from scientific advances, legal practices, and police methods of investigation and questioning.

“What happened to me was very wrong, but it didn’t hurt or minimize all of this behind the heinous and most terrifying loss of life. I did not murder or illegally take anyone’s life throughout my entire process.

“Just as God is my witness, truth is said to bring you freedom. Unfortunately, it does not give a timeline when we move towards solving the mistakes we have done to me, and I am not angry, and I am not in pain.

“I’m just anxious to go back to my loved ones and family because I have to make the most of the remaining items of existence that I’ve been granted in this world.”

The 68-year-old with learning difficulties suffered the longest abortion in British history

Part-time boyfriend Diane Sindall, 21, was brutally killed: half-naked, indecent, beaten, dismembered and breasted, her body was discarded in the alley

His sister Kim Smith said: “We lost Peter for 39 years and it wasn’t just us, Peter didn’t win, nor did the Shindell family. They lost their daughter and they wouldn’t let her come back.”

“We have brought Peter back and now we have to try to build life around him again.

“We feel sad for the mountain people in Sindel, it’s shameful, it’s going to happen first.”

Earlier, while Mr. Sullivan’s family was crying in a public gallery, Lord Holloy announced: “We have cancelled the conviction.”

The judge continued: “While there seems to be strong evidence in the trial, it is now necessary to consider new scientific evidence pointing to others – unknown people.

“If new evidence was obtained in 1986, the entire evidence would be considered inadequate. Given this evidence, it is impossible to consider the appellant’s belief as safe. ”

Mr. Sullivan’s lawyer, Sarah Myatt, said outside the court: “This is an unprecedented moment of history.

“Our client Peter Sullivan is the longest victim of judicial miscarriage in the UK

“He lasted nearly 40 years in prison for a truly terrible crime he did not commit.

“Today, justice finally served and his belief was dismissed.”

This means that the DNA found on Miss Sindall’s sexual stump body belongs to a mysterious suspect whose details are not in the national DNA database or are related to any other unresolved crime.

Detectives from Merseyside Police have begun a new investigation into Miss Shindle’s violent death.

The prosecutor acknowledged that if new evidence could be provided at the time – new evidence could be provided, then if new evidence was obtained, there would be no basis.

Duncan Atkinson KC told the Court of Appeal on behalf of CPS: “We do not seek to argue that this new DNA evidence does not undermine the security of the appellant’s beliefs.”

“If this DNA evidence can be used when prosecution is filed, it’s hard to see how to prosecute decisions,” he said.

His sister Kim Smith said: “We lost Peter for 39 years and it was ultimately not only us, but Peter hasn’t won, nor does the Shindell family have no

Ms Sindall works hard to help her upcoming wedding at Wirral bar

Police are now re-examining Miss Shindel’s murder in an attempt to stretch her killer rope

He added: “The DNA evidence provides a clear and uncontroversial basis that implies another person is responsible for sexual assault and murder.

“So it actively undermines the environmental case against Mr. Sullivan, as determined at his trial and the 2021 appeal.”

Miss Shindle was brutally killed in August 1986 after leaving work at Bebington, Birkenhead, Merseyside. Mr. Sullivan was convicted of murder in November of the following year.

Prosecutors said he had spent a lot of drinking, then went out with a crowbar and then ran into an accident with Miss Sandel.

Evidence at the time showed that Mr Sullivan recently borrowed a crowbar from his neighbor and traveled to London shortly after the murders raised suspicion and was proven to have witnesses who described him approached the scene.

Miss Shindle’s florist van collapsed on her way home from the bar shuttle and she was walking to the gas station to get some spare fuel. She has been late and pays for the upcoming wedding.

She was ambushed, sexually assaulted, and then beaten to death, and her body was partially dressed in the alley where she was found the next day and was dismembered.

In November, the Criminal Case Review Commission (CCRC) said Mr. Sullivan’s conviction had been transferred to the court based on DNA evidence.

The committee said the samples collected at the time of the murder were re-examined and found a DNA profile that did not match Mr. Sullivan.

Mr. Sullivan applied for the body and re-examined his case in 2021, raising concerns about police interviews, marking evidence for biting and murder weapons.

He claimed he did not receive proper adults during the interview and was initially denied legal representation.

Mr. Sullivan had previously applied for questions about DNA evidence at the CCRC in 2008, but forensic experts say further testing is unlikely to reveal a DNA profile.

He applied to the High Court for a conviction appeal against Bite Mark’s evidence in 2019, but this was rejected by the Court of Appeal in 2021.

Mr. Sullivan had initially pleaded guilty to the murder and then withdrew his claim.

He said the detective forced him to confess, initially forbidding him from meeting lawyers and rejecting his support for “proper adults” and said to be appointed to safeguard his interests as a vulnerable person.

Jason Pitter KC, representing Mr. Sullivan, describes how the latest scientific advances support his client’s argument that he is the victim of statutory convictions.

He told the Court of Appeal: “Currently, the matter was initially in the court and there is no scientific ability to analyze the material.

‘The material cannot be analyzed. But since 2024, the material has been analyzed.

“The DNA of cellular material found on the dead… may be attributed to an unknown male.”

“This is an unprecedented moment of history” Mr. Sullivan’s lawyer Sarah Myatt said outside the court

Mr. Sullivan’s family wept in the public gallery when Lord Horoy announced: “We cancel the conviction.”

Memorial tablet on the grass near the scene of Ms. Cinder’s murder

He added: “The prosecution is a person. It is a person who sexually assaults the victim.

“The evidence here is that a person is not a defendant.”

Mr. Sullivan, once known as the Birkenhead Beast, overcomes it with emotion at the end of the hearing.

He could see his hands rubbing against his face, as if he had wiped away his tears, and then looked into the sky.

Merseyside police said there was no available DNA evidence in the original investigation of Peter Sullivan and now officials are “committed to doing everything” to find the person with the DNA on the scene where Ms. Sindel died.

Detective Director Karen Jaundrill said: “Our idea remains mourning with Diane Sindall’s family and friends, who continues to mourn their own losses and will endure the implications of this new development in years since the murder.

“We are committed to making every effort to find out who the DNA that stays on site belongs to.

Unfortunately, there is no match for the DNA identified on the National DNA Database.

“We have acquired the expertise and expertise from the National Crime Agency, and with their support, we are actively trying to determine who the DNA profile belongs to, and there are extensive and arduous inquiries.

“We can confirm that DNA was not part of any member of the Diane family at that time, nor did Diane’s fiancé, and we think this could be important evidence to connect the killer to the scene.

To date, more than 260 men have been screened and removed from the investigation into reopening in 2023.

“The investigation team obtained most samples locally, however, screening by providing voluntary DNA elimination samples was also conducted in Swansea, Perth, London, Hull and Newcastle.”

Downing Street said Sullivan’s judgment must be carefully considered in order to make him and Diane Shindell’s family “the answer they deserve.”

“It’s obvious that Peter Sullivan has a severe miscarriage and our idea is also with Diane Sindall’s family, and it’s a very difficult day,” the ten spokesperson said.

“We have to think carefully about this judgment and look at what this might happen and provide him and Diane’s family with the answers they deserve.”