The real identity of the ‘Beast of Birkenhead’ who brutally murdered Diane Sindall was known to residents of local estates, according to a charity set up in her memory.
But no-one from the ‘tribal’ and ‘tight-knit’ communities was willing to come forward and name the killer to police ‘for fear of repercussions’, staff said today.
As a result, Peter Sullivan spent 38 years behind bars before his conviction for beating the 21-year-old to death in 1986 was quashed by the Court of Appeal earlier this week.
Police have now reopened their investigation into the florist’s murder, which caused shock and revulsion across the Wirral and beyond.
However they say there is no match on the national database for the newly-analysed DNA recovered from the scene which led to 68-year-old Mr Sullivan’s name being cleared.
