Stephen Downing, whose conviction for murder was quashed on Tuesday after he had spent 27 years in prison, told the Today programme this morning that he holds no grudges. "I can't hold any animosity against anybody," he said in his first interview since being released from prison. "Let's just let sleeping dogs lie, look to the future, not the past".

Mr Downing, who is now 45 years-old, was 17 when he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1973 murder of typist Wendy Sewell in a cemetery where he worked, although he had a reading age of just 11. He signed a confession after being questioned by police for nine hours with no lawyer present, and, although he later retracted it, that confession was still used as the basis for the prosecution case.

Mr Downing was released on from prison in February last year after he was granted bail by the appeal court, which conceded that an appeal was likely to succeed. He could have been released on parole in 1990 if he had admitted killing Miss Sewell, but he always maintained his innocence.

The Court of Appeal declared the conviction unsafe on Tuesday. It ruled that neither the forensic evidence used at the trial nor the confession were conclusive. And Mr Downing told Today that he thought his legal representation at the time could have done a better job. "I suppose they could have been a little bit more diligent than they were," he said.

During the interview Mr Downing said he hoped Miss Sewell's real killer would be found for the sake of her family. Derbyshire Police, who ran the original case has said officers will have to study the transcripts from the Court of Appeal before deciding whether to re-open the case, a process that could take several weeks.

On the question of compensation Mr Downing said he did not know how much his legal team would demand for his decades behind bars. "All I can say is that I understand they will be going for record damages," he said. Mr Downing's legal team is thought to be considering demanding around two million pounds, covering Mr Downing's lost income and the his suffering in prison.

Mr Downing said he would use any compensation to buy a car and a house. "But, at the end of the day, money isn't everything," he said. "Knowing that you are free of any guilt is compensation enough."