Watch Peter Sullivan’s first statement after 38 years in jail for crime he didn’t commit

The Independent

Peter Sullivan’s statement after murder conviction quashed at Court of AppealSource: PA

Transcript

00:00I lost my liberty four decades ago over a crime I did not commit.

00:04We now know how very different the times we live in are

00:07from scientific advances, legal practice and methods of investigation and questioning by the police.

00:14What happened to me was very wrong, but it does not detract or minimise that all of this happened

00:20off the back of a heinous and most terrible loss of life.

00:24I did not commit murder or unlawfully take the life of any person throughout the span of my own.

00:31As God is my witness, it is said, the truth shall set you free.

00:36It is unfortunate that it does not give a timescale.

00:40As we advance towards resolving the wrongs done to me, I am not angry, I am not bitter.

00:46I am simply anxious to return to my loved ones and family

00:51as I have got to make the most of what is left of the existence I am granted in this world.

00:57I am aware of how cruel time can be to a person stripped of their youth and mobility, sight and hearing.

01:03I have had to silently endure this and watch it stripped from me in the worst environment imaginable.

01:10I will not comment on the horrors done to me over that time.

01:13There are too many.

01:15With this, I humbly request that you allow me my privacy

01:18while I begin repairing what I may from the driftwood that is my life.

01:22I am so grateful to Sarah Myatt and Jim Littlehales from Switolsky Solicitors

01:27who have been committed to my case for 20 years.

01:30They have stood by me through the good times and the bad

01:32while I fought to prove my innocence.

01:35I would also like to thank Jason Pitter, my KC,

01:38and Emily Cairns and her team from the CCRC.

01:41Without the combined efforts of Sarah, Jim, Jason and Emily,

01:46this outcome would not have been possible.

01:48I will be eternally grateful to each and every one of them.

01:52Thank you also to the Miscarriage of Justice Support Service.

01:55Matilda and Leon have been very helpful in helping me prepare for today.

01:59I would also like to say thank you to my loved ones and family members

02:03who have stood by me and who continue to support me through this.

02:07Finally, I would like to say how sorry I am to the family of Diane Sindel

02:12who have now got to come to terms with the death of their daughter

02:15being down to someone else

02:17and I long to see the right thing done for this horrible crime

02:20so that they will find peace.

02:23Thank you for listening to me.

02:24Svitolski's solicitors will continue to support Peter

02:29through this overwhelming transition

02:31and continue to stand beside him

02:33in the pursuit of truth and accountability.

02:37We've lost Peter for 39 years

02:40and at the end of the day it's not just us.

02:44We haven't won, Peter hasn't won

02:46and neither is the Sindel family.

02:48They've lost their daughter, they're not going to get her back.

02:52We've got Peter back

02:53and now we've got to try and build a life around him again.

02:56So at the end of the day

02:57we feel sorry for the Sindels

03:00and it's such a shame

03:02that all this has had to happen in the first place.

03:04So that's it now.

03:06Do you feel when you heard you used to stand up?

03:09Ecstatic.

03:10It shouldn't have happened in the first place

03:12and now it's out in the open.

03:16Everybody knows about it now

03:17and let's hope people will start respecting all our wishes now

03:22and understand that Peter was called so many different names

03:26and that all needs to be squashed now

03:29because Peter was never anything

03:31of what he was being called in the first place.

03:34So thank you very much.

03:35My name's Kim.

03:38I'm his sister.

03:39Yeah.

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