LBC Radio reports police arrested a 44-year-old man on suspicion of attempted grievous bodily harm over the 2017 Putney Bridge push. The arrest came on Monday, nine years after a woman was pushed into the path of a bus on Putney Bridge.
Oliver Salbris and the 430 bus
The woman, who was 33, narrowly avoided being struck by the 430 bus. Oliver Salbris, the driver, said: "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." He later described the jogger as someone he wanted "to be caught and to explain himself".
Putney pusher case and 2018 closure
Video of the incident showed a jogger push the woman into the path of oncoming traffic. Police said the suspect jogged back across the bridge about 15 minutes later. The initial investigation included interviews with 50 men and the arrest of three suspects, before the Metropolitan police closed the case in 2018.
Once Upon a Bridge and Monday arrest
The case became widely known as the Putney pusher case and was later adapted into Once Upon a Bridge, which opened in 2024. Sonya Kelly said: "The footage is clear. If he was, say, my cousin, I would know him. So if there is somebody watching the play, thinking they have more information, I hope they will come forward." In 2024, the Met said they hoped the play would encourage anyone with information to come forward.
A Metropolitan police spokesperson said: "The arrest relates to an incident on 5 May 2017, where a woman was pushed into the path of a bus on Putney Bridge." The arrest reopens a case that had already been closed, and the remaining question is what led police back to it years later.
