'Mersey ripper' who murdered bride-to-be to have case re-examined

A man who has spent 37 years in prison for horrifically beating a bride-to-be to death has had his case referred back to the Court of Appeal due to new DNA evidence. Wirral man Peter Sullivan was dubbed the "beast of Birkenhead" after he was convicted of murdering barmaid Diane Sindall in an alleyway on August 1 1986.

Sullivan was 30 when he was found guilty by a jury in November the following year and handed a life term. Merseyside Police detectives later told journalists it was one of the worst murder cases they had worked on due to the extent of Ms Sindall's injuries. The defendant initially denied any involvement and provided an alibi.

But according to reports later gave a "confession" and told detectives he could not remember why he had done it because he was so drunk. Despite what seemed like damning evidence against him, Sullivan denied murder at his trial at Liverpool Crown Court. What appeared to be clinching evidence in the case were bite marks on Ms Sindall's body.

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But in recent years questions have been raised about the veracity of the bite mark evidence in criminal cases. And this week on Wednesday, November 13 the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) confirmed the case had been referred to the Court of Appeal after a DNA profile was obtained which does not match Sullivan. The ECHO has taken a closer look at the case that shook Merseyside at the time due to its brutality and senselessness.

Before the killing, Sullivan had accumulated 18 convictions for minor offences such as petty theft and stealing cars, and had served time in jail. But there was nothing in his record that indicated he was capable of the horrific violence he would inflict on Ms Sindall.

On the night in question, the unemployed dad-of-one had earlier been playing for the darts team at the Crown Hotel in Conway Street, Birkenhead. It was said he was drinking heavily after his team lost and he left the pub at around 11.30pm, staggering back to his maisonette in nearby Queensbury Gardens.

There, for reasons unknown, he armed himself with a two foot-long iron crowbar he had borrowed, stuffed it inside his jacket, went back out again and wandered off in the direction of nearby Borough Road.

It was here that the fateful chance encounter with Ms Sindall took place. The 21-year-old florist was on her way home from her part-time job as a barmaid at a pub in Bebington, when her blue Fiat van ran out of petrol and she got out to get some from a nearby 24-hour garage.

In a confession that he later retracted, Sullivan said he stopped Ms Sindall to ask her the time, and was then seized with a sudden desire to kill. The details of the barbaric violence inflicted on the innocent woman were so shocking they were never revealed by police, but her body was later discovered by a dog walker in an alleyway off Borough Road.

It led to the biggest murder hunt in the region's history up until then. But for eight weeks, the police got nowhere. The investigation was stunted by the fact no one had seen or heard anything while the sustained attack had gone on. Even though the horrific attack took place close to a busy main road at the height of summer, there were no witnesses.

Dr Geoffrey Garrett, the Home Office pathologist who carried out the post-mortem on Diane's body and later featured the case in his memoir Cause of Death, said: "The severity of the injuries left little doubt that Diane would have died very quickly once the blows rained down, but she was then dragged backwards and stripped almost naked. This takes at least a couple of minutes with an unhelpful body and that is a long time in a street murder."

In the meantime, rumours swirled about the ferocity of the attack and the killer was nicknamed "the wolfman" or "the Mersey ripper." Before the days of CCTV, police had to turn to an appeal on the BBC Crimewatch programme and it was only after an eight-week murder hunt that Sullivan was arrested.

Sullivan was hauled before Liverpool Crown Court for trial, where jurors heard horrific details about how Ms Sindall had been beaten with a crowbar before being dragged to the alleyway and sexually assaulted during a "frenzied attack". Previous reports detailed how some of the young bride-to-be's clothing was found partially burned on Bidston Hill the day after her death.

But the apparent clinching evidence was that of an odonatologist, who told the jury that the bite marks on Ms Sindall's body matched the accused man's teeth perfectly. They were as unique as a fingerprint and just as conclusive, the jury heard. Sullivan, once described by police as a "quiet loner" but now referred to as the "beast of Birkenhead", was unanimously found guilty by the jury in what was Merseyside's longest murder trial for 40 years.

Following the court hearing Ms Sindall's mum, dad and fiancé spoke to the ECHO. Her fiancé, David Beattie said: "I am so relieved. He has got what he deserved. In a sense, he could not get what he deserved. In an ideal world, his life would have been taken and Diane would have been brought back to me. I just hate him for what he did."

The murder of Ms Sindall continues to have a significant impact on the area of Birkenhead and beyond. Her murder led directly to the setting up of the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Merseyside, more commonly known as RASA, which has grown into an experienced and vital organisation offering care to victims of sexual violence across the north west.

Opposite the Pyramids shopping centre in Birkenhead's town centre is a small shrine, regularly adorned with fresh bunches of flowers. The shrine is dedicated to Ms Sindall and says she was murdered "because she was a woman". The memorial adds: "In memory of all our sisters who have been raped and murdered. We will never let it be forgotten."

Last year the ECHO spoke to the Ministry of Justice, who confirmed Sullivan - whose former home in Queensbury Gardens no longer exists - was still serving his life imprisonment sentence with no prospects in place of him being released. But the story took a dramatic new turn this week when the CCRC confirmed Sullivan had applied to them in March 2021 to have his case re-examined.

Sullivan raised concerns about his interviews by the police, bitemark evidence presented in his trial, and what was said to be the murder weapon. After consulting experts, the CCRC obtained DNA information from samples taken at the time of the offence.

As a result, a DNA profile was obtained which did not match Sullivan. The CCRC has now sent Sullivan’s conviction back to the courts. The CCRC said there was also evidence to suggest there were possible breaches of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE), which regulates police activities, in relation to the interviews, as Sullivan was not provided with an appropriate adult and was denied initial legal representation.

Sullivan had previously applied to the CCRC in 2008, raising questions about DNA evidence, but forensic experts said that further testing was unlikely to reveal a DNA profile. He had applied directly to the High Court for permission to appeal against his conviction in 2019 over the bite mark evidence, but this was rejected by the Court of Appeal on the basis that it was "not central to his conviction".

But the CCRC said it had now found evidence suggesting the bite-mark evidence was important. When he reapplied the CCRC decided to revisit the possibility of DNA testing. The Court of Appeal, which has the power to overturn his conviction if it is deemed unsafe, will now examine the case.