The end of his nightmare began in 2023, when the Criminal Cases Review Commission – the body set up to check for miscarriages of justice – ordered fresh testing of semen samples found on Miss Sindall’s body in 1986.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided not to challenge the DNA results ahead of a fresh appeal – paving the way for Mr Sullivan’s freedom.
In May 2025, when the appeal judgement was handed down, Mr Sullivan was listening via video-link from HMP Wakefield, sitting next to his probation officer.
“When they came back in with the verdict that my case had been quashed, [the probation officer] burst into tears first,” he said.
“She turned around and said, ‘Peter, you’re going home’…
“Next minute, bang, all the tears started running down my face and that was it, I went, ‘yes, justice has been done’.”
