May 13th 2025.
A man who had spent nearly four decades behind bars has finally been exonerated for a crime he did not commit. Peter Sullivan, now 68 years old, was convicted of the brutal murder of 21-year-old florist Diane Sindall in 1986. However, after years of fighting to prove his innocence, new DNA evidence emerged, leading to the longest miscarriage of justice in British history being overturned.
The Court of Appeal judges made the decision to free Sullivan today, after 38 years of imprisonment. The new DNA evidence showed that he was not the perpetrator of the attack. Duncan Atkinson KC, who represented the Crown Prosecution Service, stated that this breakthrough was enough to cast doubt on the safety of Sullivan's conviction. As he watched the judges announce his release via videolink from HMP Wakefield, Sullivan was visibly emotional, holding his hand to his mouth.
Throughout his time in prison, Sullivan maintained his innocence, even after being convicted in November 1987 for the murder that took place in an alleyway. It was alleged that he had gone out armed with a crowbar after a night of heavy drinking and came across Diane, who was on her way to a petrol station. The attack was described as frenzied and was one of the worst cases the police had ever encountered, resulting in a large-scale investigation.
At the time of his arrest, Sullivan was just 29 years old and initially denied the murder. However, he later signed a confession, which he quickly retracted. There have been concerns raised about his legal representation during police interviews. Sullivan had previously tried to overturn his conviction twice, with the first attempt being made 17 years ago.
It was only after the Criminal Cases Review Commission ordered new tests that revealed Sullivan's DNA did not match the semen found on Diane's body, that his conviction was overturned. The CPS accepted that this DNA evidence undermined their original case. The memorial stone for Diane Sindall, located on Borough Road in Birkenhead, Wirral, serves as a reminder of the tragic event that took place in 1986.
Duncan Atkinson KC acknowledged that there was no credible basis to oppose the appeal solely based on the DNA evidence. On the contrary, this evidence pointed to another person being responsible for both the sexual assault and murder. During the four weeks following his arrest, Sullivan was interviewed 22 times, without being provided with legal advice for the first seven interviews, despite requesting it. He confessed to the murder in an unrecorded interview the day after his arrest, which he repeated in a recorded interview before retracting it later on the same day. The CPS stated that this confession did not reflect Sullivan's earlier interviews.
This successful quashing of Sullivan's conviction came after several failed attempts to prove his innocence. Almost two decades before this appeal, he had applied to the CCRC with concerns over DNA evidence, but the experts stated that further testing was unlikely to reveal a DNA profile. In 2021, he asked the CCRC to re-examine his case, questioning the police interviews, bite mark evidence, and the alleged murder weapon. In 2019, Sullivan raised concerns again over crucial bite mark evidence in the High Court, but his appeal was rejected. He also claimed that he was denied legal representation and an appropriate adult during interviews.
During the Court of Appeal hearing, Sullivan's lawyer, Jason Pitter, argued that the bite mark was no longer viewed as reliable evidence, and his confession and other incriminating statements were unreliable due to his vulnerability and limited intellectual functioning. However, the CPS rejected these claims and stated that the way Sullivan was questioned was robust but not excessive. They also defended their decision to deny him legal representation, stating that it was in line with the guidelines at the time. They acknowledged that the bite mark evidence should not have been presented to the jury in such emphatic terms, but they believed there was still circumstantial evidence against Sullivan.
Now that Sullivan's conviction has been overturned, Merseyside Police detectives are searching for the person responsible for the DNA profile found at the crime scene, as there is no match on the national DNA database. This case has now surpassed the previous record for the longest miscarriage of justice in British history, which was held by Stephen Downing, who spent 27 years in prison for the murder of Wendy Sewell in 1974. Downing's fingerprints were not found on the murder weapon, and his conviction was overturned in 2001 after the CCRC found his confession to be unreliable.
Another well-known case of a miscarriage of justice was the conviction of Barry George for the murder of English television presenter, Jill Dando, in 1999. The high-profile case led to an international manhunt, and George was arrested and convicted in 2001. However, his conviction was overturned in 2008, after his lawyers argued that his mental disabilities made him incapable of committing the crime. He was then acquitted of the murder in a sensational turn of events. These cases highlight the importance of continuously reviewing and investigating past convictions to ensure that justice is served.
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