In 1986, the brutal murder of 21-year-old Diane Sindall sent shockwaves through Birkenhead. She had been beaten, and left in a dark alleyway — a horrifying crime that triggered the largest manhunt Merseyside had ever seen.

29-year-old Peter Sullivan was arrested, and soon after, convicted. Despite an initial series of apparent confessions and retractions during intense police questioning, Peter insisted he was innocent. For more than 38 years, he and his defence team fought to prove that the police had the wrong man.

In May 2025, the Court of Appeal agreed and ruled him an innocent man. Peter Sullivan’s conviction was quashed, ending what is now believed to be the longest-running miscarriage of justice in British history.

But if Peter didn’t kill Diane Sindall… then who did?

This is the case of a young woman’s tragic death — and a man’s decades-long battle to clear his name.