Summary
John Toal meets former death-row inmates Sunny Jacobs and Peter Pringle at the retreat they have set up in rural Ireland to offer restorative treatment to other victims of wrongful conviction in order to help them back to a normal life.
Peter Pringle was sentenced to be hanged in Ireland in 1980. Sonia 'Sunny' Jacobs was sentenced to the electric chair in the United States in 1976. Sunny was accused of killing two police officers at a highway service area in Florida. Peter was accused of killing two police officers in rural Ireland during a botched bank robbery. Both had their sentences commuted to life and were later exonerated of their crimes. Peter and Sunny spent over 15 years each in prison for crimes they didn't commit.
After their release, life in the outside world was tough. They struggled to re-integrate into society. Practical things like crossing roads, opening doors or even being touched joined a long list of everyday challenges. Neither could escape the feeling that they had re-joined a society that had moved on without them.
In 1998 Peter heard Sunny give a talk about her death-row experience. Traumatised by her story and shocked by how similar their experiences were, Peter offered to drive Sunny to her next speaking engagement and their relationship grew from there.
Now married, Peter and Sunny run the Sunny Centre in rural Connemara, a retreat for people from around the world who have been wrongfully convicted and who are trying to retrace a path back into normal life.
For this programme, John Toal travels to the depths of the Irish countryside to hear Sunny and Peter's story. He hears how a combination of yoga, meditation, healthy food and the freedom to share their experiences with people who have been through similar trauma can assist those exonerated of dreadful crimes on their path back to normality ...and whether or not an exoneree can ever truly feel free again.
Producer: Jennifer Goggin.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is the BBC. |
| 0:05.8 | When we meet someone who understands where we're coming from, |
| 0:09.4 | who identifies with our experiences and our memories, it's like coming home. |
| 0:15.0 | But for some experiences, it's harder, much harder, to find someone who can empathize. |
| 0:22.0 | Conversations were very difficult. |
| 0:25.0 | I'd be with people in company and inevitably in the conversation |
| 0:30.0 | a mention would come of this personality or that personality, this sporting person or that TV |
| 0:35.7 | person or this film person. |
| 0:37.7 | And I hadn't seen films and TV or anything like that, so I didn't know who they were talking |
| 0:42.1 | about and I had no input. That's Peter, talking about and I had no input. |
| 0:44.0 | That's Peter. |
| 0:45.0 | He served 17 years in prison. |
| 0:48.0 | You absolutely could not touch me and people said what's wrong? |
| 0:51.0 | Did they beat you? |
| 0:52.0 | I said no, but touching was against the |
| 0:54.0 | rules so you know you automatically pull away so to be hugged I had to do hugging |
| 0:58.8 | practice and that's sunny she was locked in solitary confinement for five years. Both were waiting for an |
| 1:06.7 | execution date. For crimes they didn't commit. After years inside they were exonerated, found innocent and released. |
| 1:17.0 | Outside, they found someone who could empathize. |
| 1:20.0 | I'm Riana Dylan, and in today's seriously interesting story we're heading to the west of |
| 1:26.2 | Ireland to the sunny centre with John Toll. |
| 1:30.2 | But first deep breath. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.