The Beast of Birkenhead: Trailer

About this episode

The episode explores the murder of Diane Sindall and the subsequent miscarriage of justice involving Peter Sullivan in Birkenhead.

The murder of Diane Sindall in Birkenhead, Merseyside led to Britain’s longest miscarriage of justice when local man Peter Sullivan's conviction collapsed after 38 years. This series returns to the streets, alleyways and estates of Birkenhead where it all happened, retracing Diane’s final movements. Follow through eyewitness testimony, unheard accounts and modern forensic science as we uncover how a brutal crime in a public place went unsolved for decades, while a killer may still be alive and closer to home than anyone realised. At the heart of this story is Diane: who she was, how violence against women shaped the investigation and what justice really looks like when a community has lived with fear, silence and unanswered questions for generations. Presenter: Olivia Graham. Producers: Kate Bissell, Gemma Maull and Olivia Graham. Sound Design and Music Composition: Phil Channell. Mixing: Ivan Eastley. Story Consultants: Neil McCarthy, Jack Kibble-White and Kirsty Williams. Online Producer: Rachael Smith. Development was by BBC Audio Scotland and BBC Merseyside. Executive Editors: Gillian Wheelan and Ben Anderson. Commissioning Editor: Alistair Miskin. There’s graphic…

People in this episode

Host: Olivia Graham

Topics covered

• miscarriage of justice
• true crime
• violence against women
• forensic science
• community impact
• unsolved crime

Keywords

• Diane Sindall
• Peter Sullivan
• Birkenhead
• miscarriage of justice
• true crime
• forensic science
• violence against women
• unsolved crime

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: BBC Sounds, BBC Audio Scotland, BBC Merseyside

Places: Birkenhead, Merseyside

More episodes of Crime Next Door

• The Beast of Birkenhead: 8. Whispers · June 8, 2026 · 24 min
• The Beast of Birkenhead: 7. The Profiler · June 1, 2026 · 28 min
• The Beast of Birkenhead: 6. Back In Birkenhead · May 25, 2026 · 26 min
• The Beast of Birkenhead: 5. Unknown Male One · May 18, 2026 · 28 min
• The Beast of Birkenhead: 4. The Wrong Fella · May 11, 2026 · 25 min
• The Beast of Birkenhead: 3. Because She Was A Woman · May 4, 2026 · 40 min