CHISWICK — Nicholas Brandram was found unresponsive at his home in Chiswick, west London, on Tuesday evening. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Metropolitan Police stated that Nicholas Brandram's death is being treated as unexpected but not believed to be suspicious. A file will be prepared for the coroner regarding his death, and his next of kin have been informed.

Brandram was arrested by the Metropolitan Police in June in connection with the 2017 incident on Putney Bridge. He was arrested on suspicion of attempted grievous bodily harm and released on bail in June after his arrest. He was also arrested on suspicion of possession of class A and class B drugs while in custody in June. In September, he was re-bailed with no conditions after answering bail.

The Metropolitan Police wound down its investigation into the 2017 incident in 2018 after interviewing 50 men and arresting three suspects. The force closed the case in June 2018, stating that all leads had been exhausted. Brandram was arrested in June, reopening scrutiny of the event.

Brandram's family denied he was the 'Putney pusher'. They claimed there was no forensic evidence linking him to the incident and no evidence placing him on Putney Bridge at the time. They also claimed there was no credible evidence that he was the man shown in the footage.

Alexia Hicks, Brandram's sister, said he had expressed severe distress regarding the probe. Hicks said he had told her a couple of days earlier that the investigation was murdering him. She added that he was slowly being murdered day by day. Hicks and her sister Sophie Voelcker accused the Metropolitan Police of being negligent and reckless.

Brandram's lawyers warned the Metropolitan Police last week that his mental health had deteriorated. He was receiving treatment in a psychiatric hospital after renewed press reporting. He was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for six days before being discharged on Sunday. Friends revealed Brandram was haunted by PTSD from Afghanistan and two failed marriages.

Brandram's sisters said he had a prominent military tattoo and a withered calf. They said these physical features distinguished him from the man in the footage of the attack on 5 May 2017. They also said he had blue eyes, while the victim described the attacker as having brown eyes.

Brandram's sisters said he walked from his home in Notting Hill Gate to his office in Bond Street on the morning of the incident. They said he sent them an email from his work account on the morning of the incident and could only access his work email from his workplace. Brandram volunteered to take part in an identification parade, but his sisters said the Metropolitan Police never organized one despite his offer.

He also provided his DNA for comparison with a sample recovered at the time of the incident. Hicks and Voelcker told reporters on the "Today" show that Brandram had offered to pay for private DNA tests to get results quicker.

In a March interview, Brandram identified himself as a senior relationship manager at HSBC Private Bank. He said he usually bicycled into the office in Mayfair from his home in west London, and from there could either stay at his desk, go to Canary Wharf or the City, or get on a train or go to the airport. He said his first meeting was ideally over breakfast and he was ideally home for bath time.

He also said he was a co-parenting single father with a three-year-old. He said his proudest professional achievement was being invited to a Buckingham Palace garden party after military service in Afghanistan. He said the person he most admired was his mother, who raised three children as a single parent and was the busiest person he knew. He said he had never met someone with greater moral integrity and courage, as well as resilience and stamina. Brandram was the grandson of Princess Katherine of Greece, who was a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

Chief Superintendent Dan Knowles addressed the situation in a statement. He said their thoughts were with Mr Brandram's family and friends at this deeply distressing time. He said they recognized the significant impact his death would have on those who knew and loved him. He added that they also understood the strain that being subject to a police investigation could place on individuals and their families. He said the investigation remained ongoing. He explained that investigations of this nature, particularly those involving complex evidential and forensic work, could take a number of months to complete as officers gathered and assessed all available evidence. The Metropolitan Police referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

Timeline

On May 5, 2017, a jogger pushed a woman towards an oncoming bus on Putney Bridge. The woman avoided serious injury after the bus driver swerved. Video footage showed the woman being pushed by a male jogger who then ran on.

Nicholas Brandram's sisters said he walked from his home in Notting Hill Gate to his office in Bond Street on the morning of the incident.

In 2018, the Metropolitan Police wound down its investigation into the 2017 incident after interviewing 50 men and arresting three suspects. In March, Nicholas Brandram said he usually bicycled into the office in Mayfair from his home in west London, and from there could either stay at his desk, go to Canary Wharf or the City, or get on a train or go to the airport.

What's New

Additional reporting indicates that Nicholas Brandram's family stated he took his own life after months of pressure from the Metropolitan Police investigation. They claimed there was no forensic evidence linking him to the Putney Bridge incident and no evidence placing him on Putney Bridge at the time of the incident. Nicholas Brandram's lawyers warned the Metropolitan Police last week that his mental health had deteriorated. His sisters said the Metropolitan Police never organized an identification parade despite his offer.

Why It Matters

The death of Nicholas Brandram has prompted the Metropolitan Police to refer itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. This action follows accusations from Brandram's sisters, Alexia Hicks and Sophie Voelcker, who described the police handling of the case as negligent and reckless. The referral initiates an external review of how the force managed the investigation and its impact on Brandram's mental health.

The case revives attention on the 2017 Putney Bridge incident, where CCTV footage went viral but no suspect was initially charged after the case was closed in 2018. The arrest of Brandram in June, nine years after the event, prompts discussion about the evidential basis for reopening such investigations. The family's assertion that no credible evidence linked Brandram to the crime contrasts with the police statement that complex forensic work requires time, showing the tension between investigative thoroughness and the psychological toll on subjects.