The Metropolitan Police described Brandram’s death as “unexpected” but not suspicious and have referred the case to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, while confirming that the investigation into the 2017 incident remains ongoing.
Brandram, a former British Army captain, was arrested in June after being identified by a viral video of a jogger shoving a woman in front of a double‑decker bus on Putney Bridge, an incident that has been dubbed the “Putney Pusher” case.
According to his sisters, Alexia Hicks (40) and Sophie Voelcker, Brandram had already supplied a DNA sample to the Met and was told the results would be available within four weeks; days before his death, officers allegedly told him that no date could be given, prompting him to offer to pay for a private test to obtain faster results.
The sisters told the BBC’s “Today” programme that they had repeatedly urged the police to expedite the forensic work, believing that a rapid DNA result would prove Brandram’s innocence and spare him the stress of the investigation.
In their interview, the siblings cited five points they say demonstrate Brandram could not have been the attacker: an email sent from his Bond Street office four miles from the scene, no known ties to Putney, his blue eyes versus the woman’s description of brown eyes, a visibly wasted and disfigured calf that the video subject did not display, and the absence of a prominent forearm tattoo seen on the jogger.
Brandram had also offered to take part in an identification parade, but the Metropolitan Police never organised one, the sisters claim.
Chief Superintendent Dan Knowles, speaking to the Evening Standard, expressed condolences to Brandram’s family, reiterated that the death was not deemed suspicious, and noted that complex evidential and forensic work can take months as officers continue to gather and assess all available evidence.
The sisters said they had placed their faith in the justice system and the police, and remain at a loss as to why the investigation did not move with the same urgency as the initial arrest, which involved a large contingent of armed officers.