Nicholas Brandram’s family say he was not the ‘Putney pusher’

CCTV of the man police were looking for

Sisters Alexia Hicks and Sophie Voelcker say the police were “reckless” and “negligent” in the way they treated their brother

The sisters of the man police were investigating on suspicion of being the ‘Putney pusher’ say he was innocent and blame the police for his death.

Banker Nicholas Brandram, 44, was found dead at his home in Chiswick on Tuesday (15 September). He was arrested in June this year on suspicion of attempted grievous bodily harm in connection with the incident in 2017 on Putney Bridge when a man running pushed a woman out of his way.

She fell into the road and would almost certainly have been killed if the bus driver had not swerved to miss her.

CCTV of the man running on Putney Bridge after pushing a woman out of his way

Police had been trying to identify the man in a video of the incident since the CCTV footage went viral. It showed how close the woman had come to falling under the bus. A man is clearly seen shoving her out of his way in an apparently unprovoked action.

Nicholas Brandram’s sisters Alexia Hicks and Sophie Voelcker went on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning and told presenter Justin Webb how their brother’s mental health had deteriorated after his arrest.

They said the police showed no urgency in carrying out DNA tests which they say would have cleared his name.

Justin Webb; Alexia Hicks and Sophie Voelcker 

Alexia Hicks said:

“I saw him that evening and he explained what happened that day. When he got arrested, his very hostile arrest, they actually kept him in a cell for a long time before they even told him why he had been arrested.

“And actually, he said that when eventually the police explained and showed Nick the statement, he actually felt almost a bit of relief because he was like, oh, that’s not me”.

Sophie Voelcker added:

“The victim had apparently reported that the attacked had brown eyes. Our brother had very clear blue eyes. He had a prominent military tattoo on his forearm which would have been visible because the runner was wearing a T shirt”.

Alexia Hicks:

“The Police’s urgency to get him arrested and the urgency to get it in the press, I think he couldn’t understand why there wasn’t urgency to help clear his name. He was at one point an officer in the army. His reputation meant everything.

“His mental state had deteriorated so much that every day was becoming difficult. And the problem is that one of the officers said that the DNA test results are any day now and then only a couple of days I believe before his death he said, actually we can’t even give you a date any more.

“First and foremost, we want this to be finalised and for the investigation to be closed and prove our brother’s innocence.

“We want to ensure that because of the leaks and the horrendous timing this doesn’t ever happen to another family. You know the Met, they were negligent. They were reckless and they have failed our brother.

Sophie Voelcker:

“They failed in their duty of care to our brother, to the wider family and arguably actually to society because the Putney pusher is still out there”.