UK, Peter Sullivan’s conviction overturned after 38 years: he was innocent

It is the longest miscarriage of justice in British history. New DNA tests decisive: the London Court of Appeal has overturned the conviction for the murder of Diane Sindall

Peter Sullivan spent 38 years in prison for a murder he never committed. Today, at the age of 68, his name is at the centre of the most serious and lengthy miscarriage of justice in British history. The London Court of Appeal overturned his conviction for the murder of Diane Sindall, a 21-year-old barmaid killed in 1986 in Birkenhead, Merseyside, after a brutal sexual assault.

The case was reopened by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the body charged with examining potential miscarriages of justice. Last year, new DNA tests on samples retained from the crime scene revealed the genetic profile of an unknown assailant, thus exonerating Sullivan. The evidence proved that the man was not involved in the crime.

Duncan Atkinson Kc, representing the Crown Prosecution Service, said the results of the tests “decisively undermine Sullivan’s conviction”, thus ruling out the possibility of a retrial. During the hearing, Sullivan appeared by video link from Hmp Wakefield maximum security prison and burst into tears at the reading of the sentence.

The case of Sullivan, who spent 38 years behind bars as an innocent man, marks one of the blackest pages of British justice, raising questions about the handling of evidence and the review of convictions.

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