The family of Nicholas Brandram suspected of being the “Putney Pusher” have told how he was arrested by police officers in “armed vests”.
His sisters Alexia Hicks and Sophie Volker spoke out on Friday after he was found unresponsive inside a property in Chiswick, on Tuesday evening, believed to be the former banker’s west London home.
Mr Brandram was arrested in June over the incident in which a jogger pushed a woman on Putney Bridge into the path of an oncoming bus.
“My brother woke up to a large handful of police officers wearing armed vests with a film crew on the doorstep from the media,” the sisters said.
They claimed there is no “credible evidence” that he was the so-called “Putney Pusher” and listed a string of reasons why he was innocent.
They blamed Scotland Yard for his death and criticised delays in a DNA test which they say would have proved his innocence.
“The Met, they were negligent, they were reckless and they have, you know, failed our brother,” they told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“They failed in their duty of care to our brother, to the wider family and arguably actually society because the Putney pusher is still out there."
The sisters laid out a string of reasons why they say their brother was not the “Putney Pusher”.
* “He had a withered leg from an injury sustained back from when he had been in the army.”
* "The victim had apparently reported that the attacker had had brown eyes. Our brother had very clear blue eyes.”
* "He had a prominent military tattoo on his forearm, which understandably would have been visible because the runner was wearing a T-shirt."
* He offered to have the DNA test carried out privately to speed it up and to take part in an identity parade.
* An email sent from his work showed he could not have been on Putney Bridge, they say.
Mr Brandram’s family say the 44-year-old millionaire banker “took his own life after months of immense pressure” caused by the force’s investigation which impacted on his mental health.
He had been arrested in June in connection with an incident on Putney Bridge in which a jogger shoved a woman headfirst into the path of an oncoming bus.
The force has referred itself to the police watchdog over its contact with Mr Brandram, who was released under investigation following his arrest following the incident on May 5, 2017.
In an interview with The Guardian on Thursday, Mr Brandram’s sisters told how his mental health had deteriorated in the days running up to the death.
Ms Hicks, 40, said: “He said a couple of days ago that this investigation was murdering him. Day by day, he was slowly being murdered.”
Ms Voelcker, 45, added: “He saw no end to this investigation.
“My sister and I were keeping a close eye on him because he was telling us he couldn’t go on. He said it more than once in the week before, that he couldn’t keep going. All we could do was just reassure him.
“We had faith in the system, we had faith in the police, and they neglected him. They failed in their duty of care to him, to the wider family, and we do not want to see another family going through this.”
But in a statement released on Thursday, Chief Superintendent Dan Knowles sought to defend the Met’s actions saying that “further investigative work” into what happened on Putney Bridge is “ongoing”.
He said: “Our thoughts are with Mr Brandram’s family and friends at this deeply distressing time.
“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.”
The Met previously said previously that Mr Brandram’s death was being treated as “unexpected” but not suspicious.
Following the incident more than nine years ago, the force confirmed a 44-year-old man had been released under investigation after being arrested in June after a jogger was filmed running past a man before lashing out at the female pedestrian.
Police added that he was additionally arrested on suspicion of possession of class A and class B drugs.
Bus driver Oliver Salbris has told how he narrowly avoided hitting the woman pushed into the path of his bus.
He said: “If I had not swerved...I would have smashed her head”, adding: “The consequences would have been terrible for her – and for me.”
It was reported at the time that around 15 minutes after the push, the jogger came back the other way across the bridge, and ignored the victim when she tried to speak to him.
Detectives identified more than 50 people of interest in their investigation before closing the probe in 2018, saying all lines of inquiry had been exhausted.
* Samaritans is available on 116 123 or at samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/ or email [email protected].
