Banker Released Under Investigation in Putney Pusher Case
Banker Released Under Investigation in Putney Pusher Case
The News
The 44-year-old man arrested in the "Putney Pusher" case — the viral 2017 attack in which a jogger shoved a woman into the path of a London double-decker bus — has been released under investigation, the Metropolitan Police said Monday.
He is no longer on bail, but he remains the subject of an active inquiry. Nine years after the shove, no one has been charged.
The Daily Mail describes the suspect as a multi-millionaire banker with familial links to European royal dynasties, including the House of Windsor, and a decorated former British Army officer now advising wealthy clients in the City. He has not been named and has not been charged with any offense.
Timeline
At about 7:40 a.m., a 33-year-old woman is walking south across Putney Bridge in southwest London toward a Tube station. A male jogger coming the other way shoves her with both hands into the road, in front of an oncoming double-decker bus.
Bus driver Oliver Salbris swerves and misses her head by inches. She suffers minor injuries. About 15 minutes later, the jogger passes the victim as she is being helped on the bridge and ignores her calls for him to stop.
Police release CCTV footage of the shove. It goes viral and draws international headlines. Detectives interview more than 50 men and arrest three suspects, including an American investment banker who proves he was in the United States at the time.
The investigation is closed with no charges. The case becomes one of Britain's best-known unsolved crimes.
After new information comes to light, officers arrest a 44-year-old man at his £1.4 million home in west London on suspicion of attempted grievous bodily harm. In custody he is also arrested on suspicion of possessing Class A and Class B drugs — reported by the Daily Mail to be cocaine and cannabis. He is later bailed.
The Met confirms he has been released under investigation while enquiries continue.
Reactions
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "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."
Salbris, the bus driver, told the Sunday Times of the moment he swerved: "If I hadn't swerved, I would have smashed her head. It was reflex. The consequences would have been terrible for her — and for me."
Sergeant Matt Knowles of the Putney Safer Neighbourhood Team, the investigating officer, said at the time: "The victim was put in extreme danger when she was knocked into the road. It was only due to the superb quick reactions of the bus driver that she was not hit by the vehicle."
Coverage has split along familiar lines. The Independent has focused on the police process and the victim's account; the Daily Mail and The Sun have emphasized the suspect's reported wealth, royal connections and military and banking background.
What's Next
The Met says inquiries are continuing and has given no timeline. Released under investigation means the man does not have to report to police or meet bail conditions, but detectives can still build a case and re-arrest or charge him later.
Two questions hang over the case: whether police can assemble enough evidence to charge anyone nine years on, and what the new information was that reopened a file closed in 2018.
More
The victim has never been publicly named. Police described the jogger at the time as a white man in his early to mid-30s, with short brown hair and a stocky build, wearing dark blue shorts, trainers and a grey T-shirt.
Why Americans Followed It
The CCTV clip — a runner casually knocking a stranger into traffic and jogging on — travelled worldwide in 2017, and one of the three men arrested in the original hunt was an American investment banker who was cleared because he was in the U.S. at the time.
Poll
Will anyone ever be charged in the Putney Bridge case?
Charleston White Arrested Again on Florida Battery Charge
Border Patrol Rescues MS NOW Crew in Desert
Sep 13, 2026
Supreme Court Restores Missouri's Old House Map
Sep 13, 2026
Alaska Drops Felony Voter Charges Against Samoans
Sep 13, 2026
Trespasser Breaches Harris' Malibu Estate; No Arrest
Sep 12, 2026
Hegseth Pressed Downed Airmen Into 60 Minutes
Sep 12, 2026
Houthis Seize Mokha, Choking Saudi Oil Exports
Sep 12, 2026
Altman Rules Out OpenAI IPO This Year
Sep 12, 2026
Jury Acquits Lil Durk in Murder-for-Hire Case
Sep 12, 2026
Judge: Trump Broke Law Halving FEMA Staff
Sep 12, 2026
Maher Calls Democrats' Gaza Genocide Claim a Lie
Sep 12, 2026
Blizzard Revives StarCraft, Sends Diablo to Netflix
Sep 12, 2026
Trump's Queens Childhood Home Sells for $1.93M
Sep 12, 2026
Scientists Find New Virus in Tick Invading US
Sep 12, 2026
Britain Bans Settlement Imports; US States Threaten Payback
Sep 12, 2026
Prison Fire Kills 7 as Kurds Protest Killing
Sep 12, 2026
Kosovo Rallies for Ex-President Before Hague Verdict
Sep 12, 2026
Cruz Booed at GameDay Over College Sports Bill
Sep 12, 2026
Blast Hits Bulgarian Arms Plant Supplying Ukraine
Sep 12, 2026
DOJ Loses Nearly Every Protester Assault Trial
Sep 12, 2026
Sep 13, 2026