The Crown Prosecution Service has been given a month to decide whether it will challenge the appeal of a man who has been in prison since 1987 against his murder conviction. If successful, Peter Sullivan could be the longest serving victim of a miscarriage of justice.

Diane Sindall was found dead in August 1986 after leaving her place of work in Bebington, Merseyside. The Criminal Cases Review Commission referred his case to the Court of Appeal on the basis of new DNA evidence last November. He had previously applied to the watchdog in 2008 questioning DNA evidence. According to the CCRC, experts from the Forensic Science Service then advised that any further testing would be very unlikely to produce a DNA profile.

Sullivan had previously applied to the CCRC in 2008 questioning DNA evidence. Experts from the Forensic Science Service (FSS) advised that any further testing would be very unlikely to produce a DNA profile. Mr Sullivan’s case was not referred to the Court of Appeal by the CCRC. When Mr Sullivan applied to the CCRC in 2008 he still had a direct avenue of appeal open to him.

Sullivan sought leave to appeal directly in 2019 without the CCRC but this was rejected by the Court of Appeal in 2021. According to the CCRC: ‘The Court determined that the bitemark evidence, on which he was appealing his conviction, was not central to the prosecution at trial, but the CCRC has now found evidence which suggests that it was.’

Sullivan’s 2021 CCRC application raised concerns about his interviews by the police, bitemark evidence presented in his trial, and what was said to be the murder weapon. The CCRC revisited the DNA. ‘As a result, a DNA profile was obtained which did not match Mr Sullivan,’ the CCRC said. There was also evidence to suggest there were possible breaches of PACE (Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984) irregularities with interviews at the police station.  Sullivan, who was not provided with an appropriate adult and denied a lawyer, retracted his ‘confession’ claiming it was made under duress.

Sullivan’s solicitor Sarah Myatt from law firm Switalskis told the BBC that this was ‘a pivotal moment in the case – one that Mr Sullivan has campaigned for over many years, consistently maintaining his innocence.’ ‘He remains hopeful that his conviction will be overturned and that he’ll finally be found innocent after serving more than 38 years in prison.’