Diane Sindall had a 'beautiful heart', say family

8 hours ago

Stewart WhittinghamNorth West

News image — Diane Sindall, 21, had been saving up to get married before she was killed in 1986

Handout Diane Sindall, who has blonde hair, smiles at the camera while holding a light coloured puppy which appears to be a labrador — Diane Sindall, 21, had been saving up to get married before she was killed in 1986

The family of a young woman whose murder resulted in the wrong man spending 38 years in prison have said she had a "beautiful heart".

Peter Sullivan - who was dubbed the "Beast of Birkenhead" - was wrongly accused of beating Diane Sindall, 21, to death in a frenzied sexual attack in Birkenhead, Wirral, 1 August 1986.

Sullivan was freed last year after a DNA profile was recovered, and it proved to be categorically not a match for him. Merseyside Police have issued a fresh Crimewatch appeal to find the real killer.

Sindall's family have also spoken for the first time and said their "heartache" will "never heal".

The family said that Sindall had "so much to live for" with a wedding and dreams of becoming a mother.

They added: "She had a beautiful heart and soul, and was full of love, fun and laughter which could brighten your day.

"Diane's hopes, dreams and plans for the future were cruelly taken away from her, and she never got the wedding or her own family that she wished for.

"The tragic loss of Diane has been felt throughout our everyday lives with a heartache that will never heal.

"We cannot put into words what we as a family went through at the time of her death, and we are now reliving that terrible time and all that it brings once again."

The family also appealed for any new information to help catch the real killer.

Detectives said the BBC Crimewatch appeal was focusing on a couple seen arguing on Borough Road, close to where Sindall was last seen alive.

Det Supt Rachel Wilson asked the BBC: "Is that Diane and our offender or is this another couple who have had some sort of argument?

"From the timing and the sighting, I believe that is potentially going to be Diane with our offender but I need to eliminate it either way."

Wilson added: "It was a brutal murder."

The full Crimewatch Live appeal has been broadcast on BBC1 at 10:45 GMT and will be on the iPlayer for the next 30 days.

A woman in a white top with dark skirt is seen arguing with a man at night by the side of the road in a BBC reconstruction — A BBC Crimewatch reconstruction showed Sindall was attacked on her way home from work

Sindall was doing part-time bar work to save up for her wedding when she was ambushed on her way home from a shift at the Wellington Pub in Bebington, late on 1 August 1986.

She was dragged into an alley off Borough Road in Birkenhead and her partially-naked body was found the following afternoon.

Police believe that while she left the pub in a blue Fiat van, it ran out of petrol and she set out on foot along Borough Road, either to get to a bus stop or to try and find an all-night garage.

Sullivan, who has learning difficulties, was freed by the Court of Appeal last year and wants an apology from Merseyside Police

The brutality of the attack led to her killer being dubbed "The Beast of Birkenhead".

Sullivan, 68, told the BBC he was beaten by police officers and "bullied" into falsely admitting murder, in his first interview since his release.

He was interviewed 22 times over four weeks, and was denied legal representation for the first seven interviews.

Sullivan, who has learning difficulties, had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal in May last year.

An overgrown alley bordered by a crumbling brick wall, with a black wooden doorway at its far end — Sindall was dragged off Borough Road and attacked in this alley, where her partially-clothed body was found 12 hours later

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram, and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.