'Real chance' true killer from 1986 remains at large

Detectives have said there is a "very real chance" the true killer of a young woman murdered in 1986 is still on the streets after a man wrongfully convicted of the frenzied sexual attack was freed.

Peter Sullivan had spent the last 38 years behind bars for the murder of 21-year-old Diane Sindall in Birkenhead, Merseyside, before he was dramatically acquitted by the Court of Appeal on Tuesday.

Now 68, Mr Sullivan was released from prison after judges heard a DNA profile pointing to an unknown attacker was found after new testing on semen samples preserved from the crime scene.

Det Ch Supt Karen Jaundrill, head of investigations at Merseyside Police, said the force has since made contact with every man identified in the original investigation and "had not met with any resistance" to DNA screening.

The detective said more than 260 men had been tested and eliminated as a suspect.

She has now appealed for people in the community to come forward if they can think of anyone whose "behaviour they were not happy with" at the time, admitting there was a "very real chance" the killer was still at large.

Miss Sindall was dragged into an alley and beaten to death on 2 August 1986 in an attack detectives at the time described as the worst they had ever been involved in.

Merseyside Police said it had immediately reopened Miss Sindall's case after being told there was a new DNA profile in 2023, despite Mr Sullivan's appeal still being in progress at the time.

Det Ch Supt Jaundrill said that while the DNA was the main focus of investigative efforts, her team will rely heavily on people who lived in Birkenhead at the time for answers.

"I'm really hopeful with the work that we are doing but we really are relying on the community, particularly Birkenhead, just to really think about the nature of that investigation at the time," she said.

"Try and reflect on any individuals that you weren't happy with at the time.

"It may be that somebody has passed away and you weren't happy with their behaviour at the time and you think they were linked.

"My ask would be please contact us, regardless of how insignificant you think the information is, and let us judge where that fits into our investigation."

Miss Sindall, who worked as a florist, had also been doing part-time bar work at the Wellington Pub in Bebington to save up for her upcoming wedding to her fiancé, David Beattie.

She began driving to her home in Seacombe in her blue Fiat van but seemingly ran out of petrol, and began walking to what police believe was either a bus stop or an all night garage shortly after 00:00 BST.

Her semi-naked body was discovered partially concealed in an alleyway by a woman walking her dog at about 12:30 BST that day.

She had suffered severe injuries and her death was found to have been caused by repeated blows to the head.

Det Ch Supt Jaundrill said Miss Sindall's family and fiancé were "fully supportive" of the new investigation and "very much want us" to find her real killer.

Asked about the chances of the true attacker still being on the streets nearly four decades later, she added: "There is a very real chance.

"That's where I reiterate our dedicated team of investigators are working tirelessly.

"We're exploiting every opportunity to try and identify who the person is in relation to that DNA sample, but it does come back to that point - we are reliant on the communities, particularly Birkenhead to provide information."

The force has defended how it investigated the original case, and highlighted that the technology to extract a DNA profile from the semen samples recovered from Miss Sindall's body was still many years away at the time of her murder.

It has also pointed to the fact that two other grounds of appeal, related to how Mr Sullivan was interrogated and the admissibility of bite mark evidence, were rejected by appeal court judges.

Det Ch Supt Jaundrill said: "Nobody at Merseyside Police underestimates the impact on Peter Sullivan and I am grateful that the outcome at court will allow him to go out and rebuild his life.

"Our focus remains on finding justice for Diane."

Mr Sullivan's solicitor Sarah Myatt said her client was a "private man" and wanted to be "left in peace" to rebuild his life.

Mr Sullivan, in a statement read to the media by Ms Myatt outside the Court of Appeal, had said he was not "angry or bitter" and expressed his wish that the Sindall family get justice.

Ms Myatt, who has represented Mr Sullivan for 20 years, said she had been "honoured" to read those words on his behalf.

"The comments he made about wanting the family to get a resolution, to find peace, that is a true reflection on the man that he is," she said.