A MAN released from prison after spending 27 years behind bars for a murder he did not commit has said he was “not a well man” when he confessed to the killing.

Sean Hodgson, far right, said he felt sorry for the family of Teresa de Simone, right, and for what they had been through.

Miss de Simone, 22, was found dead in Southampton in 1979 but DNA analysis proved Mr Hodgson did not rape and strangle the gas board clerk and part-time barmaid.

Mr Hodgson said: “I’m very, very sorry for what they’ve (Miss de Simone’s family) had to put up with for years and knowing that I’ve got out and the person who killed her is either in prison or walking the streets committing other offences.

“I hope the police get hold of the right one and put him through what I’ve been through for the past 31 years.”

He said he felt ecstatic when his conviction was quashed on Wednesday and the judge said he was a free man.

He said he was able to walk from court and the first thing he did was have a pint and a smoke.

“It’s great to be free,” he said.

Commenting on how the world had changed since his trial, he said it was now a faster place with more people, more buses and he was now getting used to a mobile phone for the first time.

He said: “I’d like to go and watch Sunderland play West Ham. I just want to be left alone to get used to freedom again. I haven’t got used to freedom yet.

“It’s a slow process, I can’t grasp everything all in one go. I’m going to move back to the north of England. Buy a little bungalow with a bit of land and just potter, take life easy.”

Mr Hodgson, who has mental health problems, will now be entitled to substantial compensation for his time spent behind bars.

He was convicted of murder in 1982 after a trial at Winchester Crown Court. He had denied the charge after the confession and his defence team said he was a pathological liar.

Hampshire Police have reopened the murder inquiry.