Family of ‘Putney pusher’ suspect accuse police of trying to ‘rewrite history’

The family of the man who died while under suspicion of being the so-called “Putney pusher” have accused the Metropolitan Police of trying to “rewrite history” over their investigation.

Relatives of Nicholas Brandram said a police statement confirming officers are still pursuing “multiple lines of enquiry” following the 44-year-old’s death had left them “shocked and appalled” and contradicted the force’s previous position that there was only one “final” avenue left to be resolved.

This was the DNA test that Mr Brandram’s family members believe would have cleared his name by proving he was not a genetic match to a sample taken from the clothes of the woman who was pushed in front of a bus by the jogger in 2017.

Family members said the police’s failure to provide Mr Brandram with clear information about the timeline of their investigation, alongside intense press scrutiny, had driven him to take his own life.

Mr Brandram was found unresponsive at a property in Chiswick on Tuesday.

Speaking to the Sunday Times, they said: “The Metropolitan Police cannot be allowed to rewrite the history of what happened now that Nick is no longer here to challenge them. The emails exist — their own words are in black and white.

“Nick was entitled to the truth while he was alive. His family and the public are entitled to the truth now that he is dead.”

The Met referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) following Mr Brandram’s death.

His family said the 44-year-old’s lawyers had notified the force of his “deteriorating” mental health earlier this month, and detectives had told them he had been “released under investigation now pending our final line of inquiry being completed”.

In a statement released on Thursday, Chief Superintendent Dan Knowles said further investigative work into the incident on Putney Bridge was “ongoing”.

“Following Mr Brandram’s release under investigation, it was made clear that inquiries would continue while officers progressed outstanding lines of inquiry and forensic examinations,” he said. “This remains the position, and further investigative work is ongoing.

“Investigations of this nature, particularly those involving complex evidential and forensic work, can take a number of months to complete as officers gather and assess all available evidence.

The force previously confirmed that Mr Brandram’s death was being treated as unexpected but not suspicious.”

In response, Mr Brandram’s family said the statement “directly contradicts what the police dealing with his case told him while he was alive”.

“Either Nick was lied to while he was alive, or the public is being lied to now. That is appalling in any case, but in the case of someone who was driven by the police to take their own life, it is unforgivable.

“We want to know why these accounts contradict one another, we want to know who is telling the truth, and we want this investigated independently and in full.”

In an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme earlier this week, his sisters Alexia Hicks and Sophie Voelcker accused the Met of being “reckless” and “negligent” in their treatment of Mr Brandram. They have protested his innocence and pointed out that their brother had a military tattoo on his forearm which is not visible in CCTV footage of the suspect during the incident.