The family of Nicholas Brandram have insisted there was no ‘credible’ evidence of him being the ‘Putney Pusher’ and said he ‘took his own life after months of immense pressure caused by the Metropolitan Police investigation’.
His relatives claimed there was no forensic evidence linking the 44-year-old banker to the 2017 incident in which a jogger shoved a woman headfirst into the path of an oncoming bus on Putney Bridge in south-west London.
Mr Brandram was arrested in June before being released under investigation earlier this month. He was found dead on Tuesday.
In a statement, his family said: ‘There was no forensic evidence linking Nick to it, no evidence placing him on Putney Bridge at that time, and no credible evidence that he was the man shown in the footage. In fact, the evidence proved the opposite.
‘Despite that, the police chose to arrest Nick rather than invite him to attend for interview. They searched his home and the Met Police press team then released information which inevitably led to speculation and Nick being identified in subsequent reporting.’
The family added: ‘For Nick, the consequences did not disappear. He was left for months carrying the stigma of an appalling allegation which the police themselves clearly recognised was unsupported by the evidence.
‘He lived with the shame, anxiety, humiliation and extraordinary pressure created by a wholly unnecessary investigation.’
They said the police were repeatedly asked to end their probe and warned about the impact it was having on Mr Brandram’s mental health, saying: ‘Even then, the investigation was not brought to an end. As a result, Nick is dead.’
After his arrest, police searched his £1.4million house in Chiswick, west London, and subsequently rearrested him for possession of Class A and Class B drugs – believed to be cocaine and cannabis.
The former Army officer was found dead there at 7.15pm on Tuesday.
Mr Brandram – a grandson of Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark, who was the great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria – was a director at HSBC’s private bank before being suspended after his arrest.
Following the Brandram family statement, Chief Superintendent Dan Knowles – in charge of policing for south-west London – said the investigation ‘remains ongoing’.
Nicholas Brandram was arrested by police on suspicion of being the Putney Pusher. But his family today insisted there was no ‘credible’ evidence he was
Nine years ago, police released dramatic CCTV footage of the moment this jogger appeared to push a woman into the path of an incoming bus on Putney Bridge
Mr Brandram in a recent photo when he worked at the HSBC private bank
‘Our thoughts are with Mr Brandram’s family and friends at this deeply distressing time,’ he said.
‘We recognise the significant impact his death will have on those who knew and loved him. We also understand the strain that being subject to a police investigation can place on individuals and their families.
‘The investigation remains ongoing. Following Mr Brandram’s release under investigation, it was made clear that enquiries would continue while officers progressed outstanding lines of enquiry and forensic examinations. This remains the position, and further investigative work is ongoing.
‘Investigations of this nature, particularly those involving complex evidential and forensic work, can take a number of months to complete as officers gather and assess all available evidence.’
The Met has referred itself to the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC), as is required when someone dies following contact with police.
An IOPC spokesman said: ‘We have received a mandatory referral from the Met Police relating to prior contact officers had with Nicholas Brandram, who was sadly found unresponsive and declared deceased on 15 September.’
Yesterday a Met spokesman said officers and ambulance staff were called to Mr Brandram’s property at 7.15pm on Tuesday.
‘Sadly, a 44-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene,’ added the spokesman. ‘His next-of-kin have been informed. At this time his death is being treated as unexpected, but is not believed to be suspicious.’
Mr Brandram, who had been married twice and has a three-year-old child, was a decorated former British Army captain who served with the Scots Guards in Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan. In 2012, the Newcastle University philosophy and psychology graduate was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of his military service.
A year later, he appeared at City of London Magistrates’ Court after colliding with a female cyclist on Hyde Park Corner on March 6 of that year.
Mr Brandram crashed his 1948 Harley-Davidson into the woman and then drove off without leaving his details or checking if she was hurt, the court heard.
Representing himself, he told magistrates: ‘I ride a bicycle myself and realise the risks.
‘I’m an upstanding member of society and have recently resigned as a member of the British Army and have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
‘I have a very loud bike so it’s not impossible I collided with her without me realising it. At the same time with such a big bike I don’t know how I didn’t feel the collision.’
He pleaded guilty to a count each of driving without due care and attention and of failing to stop after a road accident.
He received five penalty points, a £200 fine and was told to pay £105 compensation. Mr Brandram thanked magistrates and said he would pay the fine immediately.
The Putney Pusher incident took place during rush hour on May 5, 2017 at about 7.40am. A woman was walking southwards on Putney Bridge when the jogger approached her from the opposite direction.
There was plenty of room on the footpath for him to run around her safely, but instead he shoved her onto the road – directly in the path of an incoming 430 bus going at 12mph.
Thanks to the rapid reactions of the driver, Oliver Salbris, the bus missed the 33-year-old victim’s head by inches, and she survived largely physically unscathed.
The jogger continued his run across Putney Bridge without so much as a backward glance.
After the vehicle stopped, passers-by rushed to help the shaken woman – who has never been publicly identified.
The jogger returned in the opposite direction about 15 minutes later, passing the victim again while she was still being assisted on the bridge. He ignored her calls to stop.
The jogger approaching the pedestrian during the morning rush hour on Putney Bridge
The jogger was seen appearing to push the victim into the path of the incoming vehicle. The driver swerved and missed the woman’s head by inches
Mr Brandram was a decorated former British Army captain who served with the Scots Guards in Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan
In April, Mr Salbris told the Daily Mail that he would never forget what he saw.
‘I always think about the case and I still drive over Putney Bridge several times a day,’ he said.
‘Whenever I’m on the bridge, I look very carefully at the pedestrians on the pavement, I just can’t help it. I wouldn’t say it haunts me, but it’s not something I can easily forget.
‘I’m glad my reactions were quick on that day, or it would have ended very differently, both for me and the woman who was pushed. Her head was only a few centimetres from the bus and the wheel, even after I swerved to avoid her.’
At the time of the original appeal, the suspect was described as a white man in his early to mid-30s, with a stocky build and short brown hair. He was wearing a grey T-shirt and dark blue shorts.
Metropolitan Police detectives interviewed 50 men and arrested three suspects, including an American investment banker – who was able to prove ‘irrefutably’ that he was in the US at the time.
No suspect was ever charged, and the investigation was closed in 2018 before new information led to Mr Brandram’s arrest.
Earlier this month, he was released under investigation to give police time to complete outstanding enquiries.
The Met said at the time: ‘On Monday, June 15, a 44-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted grievous bodily harm.
‘The arrest relates to an incident on May 5, 2017, where a woman was pushed into the path of a bus on Putney Bridge in Putney.
‘Once in police custody, he was also arrested on suspicion of possession of Class A and Class B drugs.
‘He has since been released under investigation while enquiries continue.’
Mr Brandram’s late father, City executive Paul Brandram, was the only child of Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark and Major Richard Campbell Andrew Brandram, who served with the British Army during the Second World War.
Princess Katherine was Queen Victoria‘s great-granddaughter, a first cousin of Prince Philip, and the daughter of King Constantine I, who ruled Greece from 1913 to 1917 and from 1920 to 1922.
Mr Brandram – a grandson of Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark, who was Queen Victoria’s great-granddaughter – was a director at HSBC’s private bank before being suspended after his arrest
The former soldier outside City of London Magistrates’ Court in 2013. He crashed his Harley Davidson into a cyclist outside London’s Hyde Park and drove off without stopping
Queen Sofia of Spain, Paul Brandram’s cousin, told of her ‘great sadness’ after his death in 2020 at the age of 72.
Like his father, Nicholas has had a successful career in the City, working at leading stockbrokers Killik & Co and Israeli lender Bank Leumi before moving to HSBC, where he managed the assets of wealthy individuals.
In a ’60 second’ interview for the Citywealth Leaders List in March, he described his pastimes as ‘gardening, opera and Frederick Forsyth novels’.
Describing his daily routine, he said: ‘I usually bicycle into our office in Mayfair from my home in west London. And then from there, can either stay at my desk, go to Canary Wharf or the City, or get on a train or go to the airport.
‘My first meeting is ideally over breakfast and I’m ideally home for bath time. I’m a co-parenting single father with a three-year-old.’
Mr Brandram said his proudest professional achievement was being invited to a Buckingham Palace garden party after serving in Afghanistan, and that the person he most admired was his mother.
‘She raised three children as a single parent and is the busiest person I know,’ he said.
‘I’ve never met someone with greater moral integrity and courage, as well as resilience and stamina.’
He was nominated Private Banker of the Year for 2026.
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