The ‘Beast of Birkenhead’ finds love: Innocent man, 68, will marry 35-year-old ‘rock’ who stood by him throughout his bid for freedom – after 38 years in jail for barmaid homicide he did not commit
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Peter Sullivan was the victim of the worst miscarriage of justice in British criminal history, spending 38 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit.
Worst still, he became synonymous with a lurid nickname, ‘the Beast of Birkenhead’, and spent those decades behind bars in constant fear of an attack from a fellow prisoner.
So it might be assumed that Mr Sullivan, now 68, on finally proving his innocence and being freed, would emerge from his long incarceration a broken man.
Happily, the Daily Mail can reveal, this is very far from the case, and Mr Sullivan is in fact so keen to make up for lost time that he is now planning to marry.
In an outcome that few could have predicted but which many will find uplifting, Mr Sullivan is now engaged – to a woman who supported his bid for freedom, 35-year-old Caroline Furey.
So committed are the couple to each other that they are already understood to be cohabiting and Ms Furey is going by his name.
It is now some ten months since Mr Sullivan received international media attention as he was finally dramatically cleared of the rape and murder of barmaid Diane Sindall.
Mr Sullivan’s conviction was quashed last May after new forensic testing finally revealed that key DNA evidence did not belong to him, ending one of the longest miscarriages of justice in British history.
Peter Sullivan, a vulnerable man with learning difficulties, spent 38 years in jail for the murder of a pub barmaid in 1986, a crime he didn’t commit. He was finally released in May 2025
In an uplifting end to Mr Sullivan’s harrowing story, he is planning to marry Caroline Furey, 35, who supported him during the final years of his incarceration and helped in his bid for freedom
But rather than his engagement being a result of his freedom, in fact it was him making good on a commitment he had made behind bars – to the woman who had been a key supporter who helped win his freedom.
The pair formed a close bond over time and actually first discussed years before whether there was any realistic prospect that Mr Sullivan might one day be released.
The couple are now living together in the north-west of England and are quietly planning a small wedding as they build a future together.
I’m Tom Rawstorne, and nearly 30 years ago a 12-year-old murderer, with a gold crucifix hanging round her neck, gave me a moment I’ll never forget.
Sharon Carr is to this day Britain’s youngest-ever female murderer, having killed an 18-year-old hairdresser in an unproved act of gruesome violence. I watched her up close in court for three weeks and it’s something I’ll never forget. I’ve written about it in The Crime Desk newsletter – sign up to read it for free.
A friend said their relationship grew out of the compassion and support Ms Furey showed Mr Sullivan during his years in prison.
The couple at one point even attempted to arrange a prison wedding while Mr Sullivan was still incarcerated, only for permission to be refused.
The friend said: ‘She would visit him all the time and they grew really close.
‘Peter would give her little pen drawings he made while inside as a way of showing how much he appreciated her support.
‘He drew a portrait of Caroline for her birthday which she has always treasured.
‘Even when it looked like he might never get out, they stayed committed to each other and talked about getting married.
‘Caroline always believed in Peter’s innocence and she always had faith that one day he would walk free.’
Ms Furey is expected to make her first public appearance as his partner when she appears alongside him at a conference on wrongful convictions next week, it is understood.
Mr Sullivan was jailed in 1987 for the brutal murder of 21-year-old part-time barmaid and florist Diane in Birkenhead, Merseyside.
She had taken on shifts at the Wellington pub in Bebington on the Wirral to help pay for her forthcoming wedding. Engaged to her childhood sweetheart, the shy 21-year-old florist had much to look forward to.
In the early hours of August 2, 1986, about 15 minutes into the short journey home, the Fiat Fiorino she was driving home ran out of petrol and came to a halt near a roundabout in Birkenhead.
Diane grabbed a plastic can from the back of the van and started walking along the busy, well-lit road to find the nearest petrol station.
It was a decision with horrific consequences. At some point, shortly after midnight, the young woman was savagely battered to death: stripped half-naked, indecently assaulted, mutilated and her breasts bitten, her body discarded in an alley.
‘Caroline always believed in Peter’s innocence and she always had faith that one day he would walk free,’ a friend said. Ms Furey is understood to be already going by his surname
It would be another 12 hours or so before it was discovered. Diane had been beaten about the face, head and body, and sustained multiple fractures.
Her bra and T-shirt had been pulled up around her neck and her jeans, shoes, knickers and handbag were missing. Poignantly, she was still wearing her diamond engagement ring.
Merseyside Police launched its biggest ever murder inquiry in the hunt for the killer, who was quickly dubbed the ‘Beast of Birkenhead’.
Within weeks, after an appeal on the BBC’s Crimewatch UK, suspicion fell on a local man, later described to The Mail on Sunday as ‘not the full shilling’ and a ‘village idiot’.
A petty criminal who spent time in a borstal as a teenager and with a string of convictions, unemployed labourer Peter Sullivan, then just 29, had no history of sexual violence.
He was, though, something of an attention-seeking ‘Walter Mitty’ character who claimed – falsely – to have been friends with 1980s darts champions Eric Bristow and Jocky Wilson and to have had trials with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Mr Sullivan was charged with Diane Sindall’s murder following a ‘confession’. He later retracted it, saying it was made under duress from police, but in November 1987 he was convicted of murder at Liverpool Crown Court and jailed for life.
Mr Sullivan continued to maintain his innocence ever after.
Finally last year he won his freedom after his case was referred by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) to the Court of Appeal following the discovery of compelling ‘new’ DNA evidence.
Diane’s family this month spoke for the first time since Mr Sullivan’s conviction was quashed as detectives renewed their efforts to identify the real killer.
They said: ‘Diane was 21 years old with so much to live for. She had a beautiful heart and soul, and was full of love, fun and laughter which could brighten your day.
‘Diane’s hopes, dreams and plans for the future were cruelly taken away from her, and she never got the wedding or her own family that she wished for.
‘The tragic loss of Diane has been felt throughout our everyday lives with a heartache that will never heal.
‘We cannot put into words what we as a family went through at the time of her death, and we are now reliving that terrible time and all that it brings once again.’
Merseyside Police say the real killer’s DNA profile has not been matched on the national database, though more than 500 men have already been ruled out.
Detectives are now working with the National Crime Agency to try to identify the suspect through relatives whose DNA may appear in genealogy databases.
Investigators are also focusing on a couple seen arguing on Borough Road in Birkenhead shortly before Diane disappeared.
A taxi driver reported seeing a man arguing with a woman just minutes before she was last seen alive.
Diane Sindall was ambushed and dragged into an alleyway where she was killed in 1986. She was engaged to be married – and her killer the real ‘Beast of Birkenhead’ has never been found
Diane’s family this month spoke for the first time since Mr Sullivan’s conviction was quashed as detectives renewed their efforts to identify the real killer
Today, there is a memorial tablet on a grass verge near the scene of Diane’s murder in that dark alleyway. Flowers and a cuddly toy lie next to it
The man was described as white, in his 20s, around 5ft 10in with brown hair, wearing a brown hip-length jacket and baggy jeans.
Mr Sullivan claimed he was beaten by police officers and bullied into falsely confessing to the killing.
Speaking to the BBC in November, he said he believed he had been ‘stitched up’.
Mr Sullivan said: ‘They were putting stuff into my mind, then they would send me back to my cell, then I’d come back and say what they wanted, not realising what I was doing at the time.’
He went on: ‘They threw a blanket over the top of me and they were hitting me on top of the blanket with the truncheons to try and get me to co-operate with them. It really hurt, they were leathering me.
‘All I can say, it was the bullying that forced me to throw my hands in because I couldn’t take it any more.’
Merseyside Police said it ‘regretted’ that a grave miscarriage of justice had occurred but maintained its officers had acted within the law.
Mr Sullivan is demanding an apology from the force and is waiting to hear to what extent he will be compensated for his wrongful imprisonment.
He could be entitled to £1.3million under a capped government scheme.
Mr Sullivan previously revealed he would support the Sindall family if the real attacker is ever brought to justice.
He said last year: ‘I really do feel sorry for them and what they’re going through at the moment, where they’re back at square one and not knowing who the person is that killed their daughter.
‘I don’t know what to say to them. I am really sorry for what’s happened to their daughter, and if they need – if they want – my support when they go to court with the guy, when they find him, I will go to court with them, I will be there by their side, 100%.’
A £20,000 reward has been offered by Crimestoppers for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Diane’s killer.
The Wirral pub where Diane worked to help pay for her forthcoming wedding
Detective Superintendent Rachel Wilson said: ‘Our work has continued for some time to locate Diane’s killer and we will leave no stone unturned to find him and bring him to justice.
‘In 1986, DNA was very much in the early stages and as such was not available to the detectives who originally investigated Diane’s death but her murder was fully investigated by the team.
‘Unfortunately, there is no match for the DNA identified on the national DNA database and we know it does not belong to any member of her family or her fiance at the time.
‘We are working with the National Crime Agency, and with their support we are trying to identify the person the DNA profile belongs to, and extensive inquiries remain ongoing.’
