UK UK- Diane Sindall, 21, florist/barmaid, enroute home, SA, bitten, & beaten to death, Birkenhead, 2 Aug; '86, *Reopened, new DNA*

[dotr]

• Milad Sherzad, 3 Feb 2025
• 

The alleyway where Diane's body was discovered

Killer's chilling plea after ‘confessing’ to murder of barmaid 39 YEARS ago

A CONVICTED murderer imprisoned for nearly 40 years after confessing to mutilating a barmaid has professed his innocence amid “new” DNA evidence. Peter Sullivan, then-aged 29, dubbed th…

www.thesun.co.uk

'A CONVICTED murderer imprisoned for nearly 40 years after confessing to mutilating a barmaid has professed his innocence amid "new" DNA evidence.

Peter Sullivan, then-aged 29, dubbed the "Beast of Birkenhead", was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for the murder of florist Diane Sindall, 21, with a crowbar in Bebington, Merseyside.''

''Now, new DNA evidence has helped Sullivan's murder conviction to be referred to the Court of Appeal, following his application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) in 2021.''

''At some point shortly after midnight, Diane was savagely beaten to death, with her half-naked, mutilated and assaulted body left discarded in an alleyway.''

''Despite having multiple fractures, her bra and t-shirt pulled up around her neck, and her jeans, shoes, underwear, and handbag all missing, Diane was still wearing her diamond engagement ring.''

The Wellington, where Diane had been working a shift before her murder

 

[dotr]

March '25 rbbm.

Peter Sullivan: New DNA could be 'pivotal moment' in 1986 murder appeal

Convicted killer Peter Sullivan hopes new DNA evidence will exonerate him after 38 years in prison.

www.bbc.com

''The recent discovery of crime-scene DNA from an unknown man could be a "pivotal moment" in an appeal by a convicted murderer who has been in prison since 1987, his lawyers have said.''

''If exonerated, the 67-year-old would likely be the victim of the UK's longest miscarriage of justice involving a living inmate.

At a short hearing at the Court of Appeal in London, the CPS said it did not dispute the results of new forensic tests that had uncovered DNA from sperm cells.''

''Police believe Miss Sindall was walking after her van had run out out of petrol.

Her body was found that afternoon in an alley off Borough Road.

Detectives at the time described her injuries as the "worst they had ever seen".
'Some of the 21-year-old's belongings were later found burnt in woodland on Bidston Hill, about five miles away.'
The force said the new sample did not match any stored on the national database used by police.
A spokesman said it had begun the process of writing to men identified in the original investigation, and inviting them to give voluntary DNA samples for elimination purposes.''

 

[dotr]

May 29, 2023 rbbm.

''By the side of a busy main road running through the centre of Birkenhead is a small shrine passed by thousands of motorists and pedestrians every day.''

''Diane was murdered on her way home from work just before midnight on Friday, August 1, 1986.Her car had run out of petrol on Borough Road as she returned from her part-time evening job as a barmaid at the Wellington Hotel in Bebington, and she was walking back along the main road in search of petrol.Diane, 21, was just 500 yards from an all-night garage when her attacker struck.Details surrounding the way the florist died were so appalling they were never released by police.It was later described in court where a jury heard how Diane, who was engaged to be married, was hit over the head with a 2ft crowbar.After dragging her body into a darkened alleyway off Birkenhead's main dual carriageway, the attacker sexually assaulted her.''

 

[ianrutledgeandfrances]

wonder who did kill her cant imagine theyve never offended since

 

[UnicornAmalthea]

Peter Sullivan who has spent 38 years in jail for murder has conviction quashed

 

[wtiger]

they never forensically proved that a crowbar was the murder weapon - that was the crown tailoring evidence to fit a witness who claimed that Sullivan had borrowed a 2ft crowbar from them around the relevant time.

 

[dotr]

rbbm. The particularly barbaric and unusual act by the perp, surely has been repeated on other victims somewhere... speculation, imo.
May 13 2025 rbbm

Mystery of barbaric murder that haunts every woman as jailed man set to be freed

The horrifying murder of florist Diane Sindall sent shockwaves through the country in 1986, and now nearly 40 years later, the man convicted of the brutal killing has had his murder conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal

www.mirror.co.uk

'Sullivan "sobbed and held his hand over his mouth as he was told he would be released" after attending the hearing via videolink from HMP Wakefield. His bombshell acquittal means this is the longest miscarriage of justice in British history.'

'Diane had been subjected to a "frenzied" attack with injuries that detectives working on her case called the "worst they had ever seen".

'She had been beaten with a crowbar, her clothes ripped off and, to our horror, her nipples had been bitten off," she wrote, adding that she was surprised such a violent attack could have occurred unnoticed in such a busy spot.''
ETA

British serial killer who bit off girls' nipples then filed teeth to evade cops

Trevor Hardy is an almost forgotten serial killer who terrorised a British city in the 1970s with a string of horrific sexually motivated murders of young girls

www.mirror.co.uk

Mark Hobson (spree killer) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

When Diane arrived at the flat that evening she too was beaten with a hammer after being tortured with a disposable razor and scissors.She had been "hogtied" and her left nipple was completely bitten off. Police believe Hobson may have eaten it.'

Sex-crazed serial killer who chopped off his victims’ breasts and cooked them pulled out a severed boob from his pocket when police arrested him

WAYNE Ford pulled a severed breast covered in blood from his jacket pocket as the police officer retched and turned away. It was one of many that truck driver Ford had cut from his female victims i…

www.thesun.co.uk

 

[wtiger]

i'm sure that i have read about a case where the victim had her nipples bitten off!

i am trying to trawl back through the cases i've read to see if i can find it - it sure sounds familiar though

 

[MelmothTheLost]

'Beast of Birkenhead' Peter Sullivan has conviction quashed over new DNA evidence after spending 38 years in jail for murder of florist Diane Sindall - in UK's longest miscarriage of justice​

A former labourer who spent the last 38 years in prison after being found guilty of the murder of a young florist was dramatically set free today after a court found new DNA evidence rendered his conviction unsafe.

Peter Sullivan was jailed for the murder of Diane Sindall, 21, in 1986, but today three senior judges quashed his conviction after the Court of Appeal heard DNA evidence showed the killer was someone else.

They found in favour of the 68-year-old, who has learning difficulties, marking the longest miscarriage of justice in UK history.

Man has murder conviction quashed after 38 years in jail

Peter Sullivan was jailed for the murder of Diane Sindall, 21, in 1987, but today three senior UK judges quashed his conviction.

www.dailymail.co.uk

I can't help thinking this will support Jeremy Bamber's campaign to have his conviction overturned. I've never been very comfortable about his conviction.

 

[MrsWatson]

Peter Sullivan has murder conviction quashed after 38 years in jail

Hearing told that DNA evidence found at the scene of Diane Sindall’s murder was not that of the 68-year-old

www.theguardian.com

 

[Sarahlou]

I was just reading about this. I wanted to see what evidence they actually had at the time. I didn't realise he confessed to the crime at one point.

 

[Lucy6226]

38 years is such a long time, jailed in 1986...how much the world has changed over that time. He will no doubt be institutionalised too. How do you even begin to live a normal life at 68?!

 

[Lucy6226]

I was just reading about this. I wanted to see what evidence they actually had at the time. I didn't realise he confessed to the crime at one point.

I watched The Confession Tapes on Netflix and it discussed the reasons the people had falsely confessed...such as torture, threats, being told they had done it so many times that they actually believe they had done it and just had no memory and just to stop the endless questioning. It was easier for them to confess to something they hadn't done. All because the police were even mono focused on the person as a suspect or just wanted to pin it on someone quick and case closed. It's actually heartbreaking and one would hope in this day and age it couldn't happen again.

 

[RichardKimble]

I was just reading about this. I wanted to see what evidence they actually had at the time. I didn't realise he confessed to the crime at one point.

Very little it seems, he was denied a solicitor at one time, I know it's the Mail but!
He had learning difficulties, shades of Stefan Kisko.

He claimed he had not been provided with an appropriate adult during interviews and was initially denied legal representation.

 

[Lucy6226]

Very little it seems, he was denied a solicitor at one time, I know it's the Mail but!
He had learning difficulties, shades of Stefan Kisko.

He claimed he had not been provided with an appropriate adult during interviews and was initially denied legal representation.

Very common theme amongst false confessions

 

[RichardKimble]

Very common theme amongst false confessions

Easy targets and the institutions hate to be found wrong, don't bet on compensation, the post office scandal hasn't been sorted yet.

 

[RichardKimble]

Time for the press to drop the beast angle too, he's not.

 

[Lucy6226]

Hope the real perp is still alive to face justice. Diane's family must be heartbroken that he has gone free all this time

 

[dotr]

Man has murder conviction quashed after 38 years in jail

Peter Sullivan was jailed for the murder of Diane Sindall, 21, in 1987, but today three senior UK judges quashed his conviction.

www.dailymail.co.uk

''His sister, Kim Smith, said: 'We lost Peter for 39 years and at the end of the day it's not just us, Peter hasn't won and neither has the Sindall family. They've lost their daughter, they are not going to get her back.

'We've got Peter back and now we've got to try and build a life around him again.

'We feel sorry for the Sindall's and it's such a shame this has had to happen in the first place.'

Earlier, members of Mr Sullivan's family in the public gallery wept as Lord Justice Holroyde announced: 'We quash the conviction.'

The judge continued: 'Strong though the circumstantial evidence undoubtedly seemed at the trial, it is now necessary to take into account the new scientific evidence pointing to someone else - the unknown man. ''
'Today, justice has been at last served, and his conviction has been quashed.'

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Just thinking about the fact that the unknown killer's DNA is not in the existing databases, and wondering whether this might be the spur needed to get IGG moving in the UK.