The victim of a 38-year miscarriage of justice has claimed he was beaten by police officers and “bullied” into falsely admitting murder, in his first interview since his release.
Mr Sullivan, who has learning difficulties, had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal in May after new DNA tests were carried out.
He now wants an apology from Merseyside Police. The force said while it “regretted” that a “grave miscarriage of justice” had taken place, it maintained its officers acted within the law at the time.
Mr Sullivan said despite moments of near hopelessness, he was always supported by his parents who died years before he could clear his name.
He said: “My mum turned around to me before she died, and said, ‘I want you to carry on fighting this case because you’ve done nothing wrong’.”
In one of many painful moments from his time behind bars, Mr Sullivan said he was denied permission to attend his mum’s funeral in 2013 because she was buried in the same cemetery as Miss Sindall.
His ordeal began after the semi-naked body of 21-year-old florist Miss Sindall was found with catastrophic injuries in an alley off Borough Road, Birkenhead, on 2 August 1986.
Two weeks later, her partially burned clothing was found on Bidston Hill, a large area of woodland about an hour’s walk from the alley.
After a BBC Crimewatch appeal was aired, witnesses came forward claiming to have seen Mr Sullivan in a pub near the murder scene that night, while others reported seeing a man fitting his description near Bidston Hill the following day.
He was arrested on suspicion of murder on 23 September 1986, and was interviewed 22 times over the following four weeks.
