A 44-year-old private banker arrested by police on suspicion of being the Putney Pusher has been found dead.
Nicholas Brandram was detained on June 15 at his home in Chiswick, West London, for attempted grievous bodily harm.
It was in relation to a notorious incident on May 5, 2017 when a jogger shoved a female pedestrian into the path of a double-decker bus on Putney Bridge.
Police searched Mr Brandram’s £1.4million house and subsequently rearrested him for possession of Class A and Class B drugs – believed to be cocaine and cannabis.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said today: ‘At 7.15pm on Tuesday, September 15 officers and the London Ambulance Service attended an address in Chiswick, Hounslow after a man was found unresponsive inside a property.
‘Sadly, a 44-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. His next-of-kin have been informed. At this time his death is being treated as unexpected, but is not believed to be suspicious. A file will be prepared for the coroner in due course.’
Mr Brandram – a grandson of Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark, Queen Victoria’s last female descendant – was a director at HSBC’s private bank before being suspended after his arrest.
His name was not released at the time of his arrest for legal reasons, but his identity was the subject of intense online speculation. He can now be named following his death.
Mr Brandram was a decorated former British Army captain who served with the Scots Guards in Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan. In 2012, the Newcastle University philosophy and psychology graduate was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of his military service.
A year later, he appeared at City of London Magistrates’ Court after colliding with a female cyclist on Hyde Park Corner on March 6 of that year.
Nicholas Brandram – who was arrested by police on suspicion of being the Putney Pusher – has been found dead
Mr Brandram crashed his 1948 Harley-Davidson into the woman and then drove off without leaving his details or checking if she was hurt, the court heard.
Representing himself, he told magistrates: ‘I ride a bicycle myself and realise the risks.
‘I’m an upstanding member of society and have recently resigned as a member of the British Army and have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
‘I have a very loud bike so it’s not impossible I collided with her without me realising it. At the same time with such a big bike I don’t know how I didn’t feel the collision.’
He pleaded guilty to a count each of driving without due care and attention and of failing to stop after a road accident.
He received five penalty points, a £200 fine and was told to pay £105 compensation. Mr Brandram thanked magistrates and said he would pay the fine immediately.
The Putney Pusher incident took place during rush hour on May 5, 2017 at about 7.40am.
A woman was walking southwards on Putney Bridge when the jogger approached her from the opposite direction.
There was plenty of room on the footpath for him to run around her safely, but instead he shoved her onto the road – directly in the path of an incoming 430 bus going at 12mph.
Thanks to the lightning reactions of the driver, Oliver Salbris, the bus missed the 33-year-old victim’s head by inches, and she survived largely physically unscathed.
The jogger continued his run across Putney Bridge without so much as a backward glance.
After the vehicle stopped, passers-by rushed to help the shaken woman – who has never been publicly identified.
The jogger returned in the opposite direction about 15 minutes later, passing the victim again while she was still being assisted on the bridge. He ignored her calls to stop.
Nine years ago, police released dramatic CCTV footage of the moment this jogger appeared to push a woman into the path of an incoming bus on Putney Bridge
The jogger was seen appearing to push the victim into the path of the incoming vehicle. The driver swerved and missed the woman’s head by inches
In April, Mr Salbris told the Mail that he would never forget what he saw.
‘I always think about the case and I still drive over Putney Bridge several times a day,’ he said.
‘Whenever I’m on the bridge, I look very carefully at the pedestrians on the pavement, I just can’t help it. I wouldn’t say it haunts me, but it’s not something I can easily forget.
‘I’m glad my reactions were quick on that day, or it would have ended very differently, both for me and the woman who was pushed. Her head was only a few centimetres from the bus and the wheel, even after I swerved to avoid her.’
At the time of the original appeal, the suspect was described as a white man in his early to mid-30s, with a stocky build and short brown hair. He was wearing a grey T-shirt and dark blue shorts.
Metropolitan Police detectives interviewed 50 men and arrested three suspects, including an American investment banker – who was able to prove ‘irrefutably’ that he was in the US at the time.
No suspect was ever charged, and the investigation was closed in 2018 before new information led to Mr Brandram’s arrest.
Earlier this month, he was released under investigation to give police time to complete outstanding enquiries.
The Met said at the time: ‘On Monday, June 15, a 44-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted grievous bodily harm.
‘The arrest relates to an incident on May 5, 2017, where a woman was pushed into the path of a bus on Putney Bridge in Putney.
‘Once in police custody, he was also arrested on suspicion of possession of Class A and Class B drugs.
‘He has since been released under investigation while enquiries continue.’
Mr Brandram – a grandson of Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark, Victoria’s last female descendant – was a director at HSBC’s private bank before being suspended after his arrest
Mr Brandram’s late father, City executive Paul Brandram, was the only child of Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark and Major Richard Campbell Andrew Brandram, who served with the British Army during the Second World War.
Princess Katherine was Queen Victoria‘s great-granddaughter, a first cousin of Prince Philip, and the daughter of King Constantine I, who ruled Greece between 1913 and 1922.
Queen Sofia of Spain, Paul Brandram’s cousin, told of her ‘great sadness’ after his death in 2020 at the age of 72.
Like his father, Nicholas has had a successful career in the City, working at leading stockbrokers Killik & Co and Israeli lender Bank Leumi before moving to HSBC, where he managed the assets of wealthy individuals.
He was nominated Private Banker of the Year for 2026.
