The sisters of Nicholas Brandram, the man arrested in connection with the "Putney pusher" incident, have stated that a DNA test would have cleared his name. Brandram was arrested in June, nine years after a woman was pushed in front of a moving bus on Putney Bridge in May 2017. He had provided a DNA sample to the Metropolitan Police two months prior to his death but never received the results, according to his sisters, Alexia Hicks and Sophie Voelcker.

Brandram was found deceased in his west London home on Tuesday. His family has maintained his innocence, suggesting that the prolonged Metropolitan Police investigation placed immense pressure on him, leading to his death. The Metropolitan Police acknowledged the strain such investigations can cause but did not directly address the family's specific claims, noting that a mandatory referral had been made to the police watchdog.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Hicks and Voelcker outlined several reasons why they believe their brother was not the perpetrator. They accused the Metropolitan Police of negligence and recklessness in their handling of the case. The sisters highlighted discrepancies between their brother's physical characteristics and the victim's description of the attacker, including a withered leg from an army injury and a prominent military tattoo, which they say did not match the suspect's profile. Additionally, they noted the victim reported the attacker having brown eyes, while their brother had blue eyes.

Further challenging the police's case, the sisters provided evidence suggesting Brandram was in his Bond Street office at the time of the attack and had no connection to Putney, where he lived in Notting Hill. They also emphasized that Brandram willingly provided a DNA sample to expedite the investigation, but the results were never communicated to him, despite his family's requests for an update.

"It's out there on the internet what the so-called Putney pusher looked like," the sisters stated. "We provided evidence very quickly to show that this did not look like our brother." They expressed that the arrest, which occurred nine and a half years after the incident, came as a complete surprise, stemming from an allegation they described as either malicious or mistaken.

Hicks recounted Brandram's arrest in June, describing it as a hostile encounter where police officers, some in armed vests, arrived at his home with media present. The sisters reported that his mental health significantly deteriorated following the arrest, especially after his name was leaked on social media, exposing him to online vitriol.

"The Met, they were negligent, they were reckless and they have, you know, failed our brother," the sisters asserted. They believe the police failed in their duty of care not only to Brandram and his family but also to society, as the actual "Putney pusher" remains at large.

The sisters' statements highlight a profound distrust in the Metropolitan Police's investigative methods and a strong conviction that their brother was wrongly targeted. The case raises questions about the procedures followed by the police, the impact of media leaks on suspects, and the potential for prolonged investigations to have devastating consequences.