Putney Pusher Suspect Found Dead at Home in Chiswick
Nicholas Brandram was under investigation for the incident in 2017
Left: Nicholas Brandram. Picture: Facebook Right: The Putney Pusher. Picture: Met Police
The man recently arrested in connection with the long-running “Putney Pusher” investigation has been found dead at his home in Chiswick.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed that Nicholas George Brandram, 44, was discovered unresponsive inside a property in the area on Tuesday (15 September) evening. Police officers and London Ambulance Service attended the scene at Cranbrook Road, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. Police say his death is being treated as “unexpected, but not believed to be suspicious.”
Brandram had only last week been released under investigation while detectives continued “outstanding enquiries” into the 2017 incident on Putney Bridge, in which a jogger pushed a woman into the path of an oncoming bus. His name had not previously been made public; police confirmed his identity following his death.
Brandram had been arrested at his home in June on suspicion of attempted grievous bodily harm, and re-arrested the following day for possession of Class A and Class B drugs. He was never charged.
Brandram’s background was unusually high-profile. He was the grandson of Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark, making him a great-grandson of King Constantine I of Greece and a descendant of Queen Victoria. His grandfather, Major Richard Brandram, married Princess Katherine in 1947, linking the family to the Greek and Danish royal houses.
After serving as a British Army captain in Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan, Brandram built a career in wealth management. By 2026 he was a senior relationship manager at HSBC Private Bank, advising ultra-high-net-worth clients, and was known to cycle from his west London home to the bank’s Mayfair office. He had previously appeared in court in 2013 after leaving the scene of a collision near Hyde Park Corner.
The “Putney Pusher” case has remained one of London’s most troubling unsolved crimes. In May 2017, a jogger shoved a woman into the path of a double-decker bus on Putney Bridge. Bus driver Oliver Salbris swerved to avoid hitting her, later saying: “If I hadn’t swerved, I would have smashed her head.”
Despite interviewing more than 50 suspects, police closed the case in 2018 before reopening it in 2026.
Brandram’s family have denied claims that he was the Putney Pusher and are blaming the Metropolitan Police for his death.
They have issued a statement saying there was "no evidence placing him on Putney Bridge at that time, and no credible evidence that he was the man shown in the footage".
It continues, "He lived with the shame, anxiety, humiliation, and extraordinary pressure created by a wholly unnecessary investigation."
His sisters Alexia Hicks and Sophie Voelcker have vehemently defended their brother’s innocence pointing to what they say are inconsistencies in the evidence. They say that the witness description specified that the Putney Pusher had brown eyes where as Brandram’s were blue and the tattoo that he had on his forearm wasn’t visible on the man in the video of the incident.
They are calling on the investigation to be finalised to clear their brother's name.
Chief Superintendent Dan Knowles 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.”
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