Kenneth Glad
Police have made a new arrest in a long-running London investigation. The case has remained in public memory because of footage showing a woman being pushed toward traffic.
A 44-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the Putney Bridge bus-shove case, nearly nine years after a woman was pushed into the path of a London double-decker bus, Metropolitan Police said.
He was arrested on Monday, June 15, on suspicion of attempted grievous bodily harm. Police have not named him, and he has not been charged.
According to the Daily Mail, the arrested man is a wealthy banker with reported family links to European royalty and a previous career in the British Army.
Police said the arrest relates to an incident, where a woman was shoved from the pavement into the road.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “On Monday, 15 June, a 44-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted grievous bodily harm.
“He was taken to police custody, where he remains.
“The arrest relates to an incident on 5 May 2017, where a woman was pushed into the path of a bus on Putney Bridge in Putney.”
Surveillance footage drew attention
The case became widely discussed after police released footage showing a jogger approaching the woman before she was shoved toward an oncoming route 430 bus.
Driver Olivier Salbris swerved and stopped the vehicle close to where she had fallen. The woman survived and has not been publicly identified.
About 15 minutes later, according to the newspaper, the jogger returned across the bridge in the opposite direction and ignored the woman when she tried to stop him.
Earlier inquiries included interviews with about 50 men and several arrests, but no one was charged. The investigation was closed in 2018 before new information led to the latest arrest.
Driver recalls moment
Salbris later told Daily Mail: “I always think about the case and I still drive over Putney Bridge several times a day.
“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.”
Putney MP Fleur Anderson said: “This is a significant step forward and one that many people in Putney will welcome after such a long time. My thoughts are with the woman involved – I hope this brings her some reassurance.”
Source: Daily Mail
