Who pushed the woman off the bridge? A distant relative of Felipe VI accused by the police commits suicide

BarcelonaNicholas Brandram, a 44-year-old British banker related to Felipe VI, was found dead on Tuesday at his home in Chiswick, west London. Brandram had been arrested on June 15 as a suspect in the case known as the “Putney pusher”, an assault that took place on May 5, 2017, in which a runner pushed a woman onto the road just as a bus was approaching. The driver’s maneuver prevented the victim from being run over, but the incident, recorded by a security camera, caused enormous controversy in the country and a frantic manhunt to find the man. Despite the efforts, he was never discovered, and the assault joined the list of unsolved mysteries. Until, nine years later, the police knocked on Brandram’s door. They arrested him for alleged drug possession, and subsequently released him. He was not formally charged, but he remained under investigation.

Now the family claims that Brandram committed suicide due to months of psychological pressure related to the investigation, and they hold the Metropolitan Police responsible for the deterioration of his health. “He lived with the shame, anxiety, humiliation, and extraordinary pressure derived from an unnecessary investigation,” his sisters state. They say that no forensic evidence links him to the bridge assault, and that a few days after the arrest he provided a DNA sample, the results of which are unknown. The impact of media coverage and insults on social media allegedly drove the man to a tragic end, the family denounces.

The police keep the investigation open

According to relatives, Brandram was admitted for six days to a psychiatric hospital before being discharged last Sunday. His lawyers had warned the police that his mental health had deteriorated and had requested that the investigation be halted. The family reports that the police force has not yet formally closed the case, and has neither charged nor exonerated him. The Metropolitan Police, for its part, has referred the case to the office that investigates police conduct (IOPC), which is assessing whether any action needs to be taken regarding the officers' prior contacts with Brandram. The referral was made on September 16, the day after his death. The force maintains that the investigation remains open and defends that the arrest, motivated by new information received in April, was “necessary and proportionate” to seize devices and carry out new searches. Chief Superintendent Dan Knowles has stated that the proceedings and forensic analyses may take months.

A case still unsolved

Brandram had served as a captain in the Scots Guards and had participated in the War in Afghanistan before working in the financial sector. He was the grandson of Princess Katherine of Greece, great-nephew of Queen Sofia, and a second cousin of Felipe VI.

The truth is that the "Putney pusher” case remains unsolved. The Metropolitan Police closed it in 2018 after several years of investigations and reopened it in April of this year following the arrival of new information. Nine years after the assault, no one has been formally charged and the identity of the attacker remains unknown.