British man jailed for 1986 murder acquitted after 38 years by new DNA research

Title: British man jailed for 1986 murder acquitted after 38 years by new DNA testing 

Date of publication: May 13, 2025, 5:41pm

Author: Clea Skopeliti 

Article link: British man jailed for 1986 murder acquitted after 38 years by new DNA testing | Euronews

Image of scientists carrying out DNA analysis in a laboratory. 

Summary of article: The UK's court of appeal has abolished the murder conviction of a man that has been jailed for the past 38 years due to fresh DNA evidence emerging. The man, Peter Sullivan, was convicted for the murder of Diane Sindall in 1987. He received a sentence of life in prison. Peter, the whole time, has maintained his innocence, and he is currently considered "the longest-serving living victim of a miscarriage of justice in the UK's history."

 

 The victim, Diane Sindall, who was a florist and worked part time at a bar, was found dead on august 2 1986 after leaving her work in Bebington, Merseyside. She had sadly been sexually assaulted and mercilessly murdered on her way home. 

Peters lawyer, Sarah Myatt, relayed his statement that he was "not angry, not bitter" but rather "simply anxious to return to [his] loved ones and family." He has said that his experience of injustice in the legal system does not minimize that this has all stemmed from a "heinous and most terrible loss of life." 

He acknowledges the youth he has been stripped of, and the fact that he was forced to experience it "in the worst environment imaginable." He requests for privacy as he begins to rebuild his life.  

Peter in previous years, 2008, had applied to Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) for questioning of  DNA evidence, but the CCRC did not refer his case to Court appeal with the belief that "new testing would be unlikely to produce a DNA profile." While the techniques used to abolish his conviction were not available in 2008, the CCRC has acknowledged that there were other methods that they could have tried but they neglected to. 

Peter then went on to seek an appeal directly in 2019, without CCRC middle-manning, but was rejected by the Court of Appeal in 2021. He reapplied to CCRC in March of 2021, which was when the organization acquired "DNA information from samples taken at the time of the offence." The Merseyside Police has reopened Diane's investigation, unfortunately, despite screening 260 men, no DNA matches have been found at this point in time.

Photo of Peter Sullivan when first convicted, and a courtroom sketch of peter during his trials.

My thoughts: Peter Sullivan's case is truly a heartbreaking one. An innocent man that was wrongfully convicted has lost 38 valuable, irreplaceable years off of his life, and that is just a truly unfortunate and pitiful fact. I couldn't even begin to imagine being in his position, and the fact that he holds no grudges towards the UK's justice system is a completely unassuming and kind-hearted way of looking at such an unfair and ill-fated situation. 

Diane's murder was a horribly wretched act of violence, and the fact that the person that committed it is still out there is horrifying and upsetting. She was a young women that was saving up for her wedding, and at 21 years young, she was wrongfully stolen from the living world. It is a unforgivable disgusting act of cruelty, and I can only hope that her real killer will soon be brought to justice. 

The fact that the killer knowingly let an innocent man rot in jail for their heinous crime is further despicable and revolting, and I can only hope that the Merseyside Police can finally bring the real murderer to light, and that they punish him accordingly.

Peters situation is truly upsetting and distressing, and I have the highest of hopes that he finds solace in his new found freedom. I hope he finds peace within himself a well as with his loved ones, regardless of his unfair loss of valuable time. I truly wish him the best.