The family of Nicholas Brandram has insisted that the 44-year-old banker was not the man who pushed a woman into the path of a bus on Putney Bridge in London in 2017, and has criticised the Metropolitan Police over the investigation.
Brandram was found dead at his home in Chiswick, west London, on Tuesday, September 15, after being investigated over the long-running case. The Metropolitan Police said his death was unexpected but was not believed to be suspicious, with a report being prepared for the coroner.
The 2017 incident involved a jogger who appeared on CCTV pushing a 33-year-old woman into the path of a double-decker bus as she walked across Putney Bridge. The bus driver managed to swerve and avoid hitting her, and she suffered minor injuries.
Police investigated more than 50 men and arrested three suspects after releasing CCTV footage of the incident. However, no one was charged and the investigation was closed in 2018. Brandram was arrested in June 2026, almost nine years after the incident, on suspicion of attempted grievous bodily harm. He was later released under investigation and was never charged.
In a statement released after his death, Brandram’s family said there was no forensic evidence connecting him to the attack and no evidence placing him on Putney Bridge when the incident occurred.
The family said there was also “no credible evidence” that Brandram was the man shown in the CCTV footage and argued that available evidence supported his innocence.
They said Brandram “took his own life after months of immense pressure caused by a Metropolitan Police investigation” and accused the force of failing to formally clear his name before his death.
The family also criticised what it described as the prolonged pressure caused by the investigation, saying Brandram had faced the stigma and emotional impact of an allegation that they believed was unsupported by the evidence.
The Metropolitan Police has been contacted for comment on the family’s allegations.
Brandram was a former British Army captain who served in Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan before moving into finance. He later worked as a senior relationship manager at HSBC Private Bank. He was also a descendant of Queen Victoria through his grandmother, Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark.
His death leaves the identity of the person responsible for the 2017 Putney Bridge attack unresolved. Because Brandram was never charged, there was no court finding establishing that he was the jogger captured in the footage.
