Putney Pusher suspect found dead, according to reports

[Fartughtyred]

Goodness me, wasn't expecting that.

I don’t think many people on here are totally convinced of his guilt. There have been one or two Daily Mail type responses of ‘oh good’ or ‘I know his type’ but not many. Most people are saying we can’t possibly know.

that said, having previous form for hitting a woman with his motor bike and not stopping, and the arrest for possession of class A and class B drugs (for which there was presumably pretty clear evidence) are interesting …. and conveniently ignored by
the sisters

To be honest I wouldn't even be able to identify this same man as the one some pages back when he was clean shaven they look totally different

I wonder when and why he decided to have facial hair......

I thought the sisters are saying their brother had a tattoo and the runner doesn’t. If there are images showing the runner had a tattoo, then that’s pretty incriminating tbh.

I have yet to see an image of the actual pusher which shows the area of his arm where the suspect's tattoo was.

So I don't know how we can say the runner DIDN'T have a tattoo?

I agree with you.

Also if a photo exists anywhere of the suspect having a withered leg, wouldn’t the family put that out immediately? It’s hard to believe not a single photo of him in shorts, swimming shorts etc. exists.

I wouldn't read too much into it given that male facial hair is currently extremely fashionable. Men are now more likely to be bearded than not.

It’d be hard to catch his eye colour with the push but he went past her again some time later so it would’ve been easier then.

Also wouldn’t identification be one of the earlier things the police would do. Seems so slow.

The statement by his sisters suggests he did. They say the police know he cannot possibly be guilty.

It is not unknown for the Met to take their time telling someone they have been cleared. If that has happened here, they may well come in for some criticism from the IOPC.

case must surely be closed now

Why?

Well yes. It's unlikely the sisters can prove beyond doubt that he isn't the pusher. Proving a negative is tricky at the best of times but after all this time?

So really it's up to the police to release the evidence they have that he is the pusher. My gut feel is if they had good evidence they'd have charged him. I suspect the thing that made this case "complicated" was that there wasn't any evidence beyond the word of a disgruntled ex who seemingly didn't even know him at the time.

In that photo of him cycling his left leg does look quite slim, slimmer than the runner's imo.

I don't know what to think, if he lived 4 miles away at the time it seems odd that he would have been running there in the first place and surely he would have been recognised by many people who knew him at the time.

I also can't imagine any possible useful DNA being retrieved from the pushing encounter, that is all a bit odd.

Three months is just not a long time. They'd need to interview people he was working with then, not all of whom are necessarily still there now so might need tracing. As a pp said, there would probably be at least some CCTV retained which would have to be rewatched. There apparently was DNA to be checked. That's just the obvious stuff.

It wouldn't surprise me if after all this there was/would be no real evidence other than whoever shopped him, guilty or not. But I don't think any conclusion can be drawn from the investigations still being ongoing.

It’s not uncommon for someone’s weight to fluctuate over time. Nor is it unusual for men to have facial hair and be clean shaven at different times in their life.

The police were investigating and carrying out background checks in the two months between this man being reported to them and them arresting him. The police don’t just knock on someone’s door on the say so of a disgruntled ex!

of course, if it turns out that the person who named him did it with malicious intent, hopefully they’ll be charged.

In theory the runner could have got a tattoo later - it's some years ago now.

In theory as well the guy could have set up an email to be sent early in the morning, but you'd need to look at why he would do that. It isn't absolutely impossible he planned to push some random woman into the road but it's very far fetched. So why would he set up alibi emails, if he hadn't planned to do something so dangerous? You'd need to look at the content of the emails as well as the timing to see if there was some reason.

All very odd.

Three months would feel very difficult if the family could see his MH was declining and they feared his suicide.

If the timeline isn’t slow then questions could be around releasing his pre-charge identity. The media picked up on clues rather than the police stating it but there will be an investigation into it I think.

Course, just because there are legitimate logistical and resource constraints doesn't mean delay can't cause harm to people involved. My post there was about it not being sus that there hadn't been charges in three months, not the experience of any of the individuals.

Someone upthread said his sisters reckoned the police had turned up with cameras when arresting him?! I hadn't seen that but if it's true, would be huge. But if that isn't accurate, it might not even have been the police who spoke to the press. Could've been someone at his solicitor's firm, or even the person who reported him in the first place.

Here, but this was before I saw the photos of the tattoo being on the inside of his arm.

I've not seen any scene photos where the inside of his arm could be seen.

It might not be the police but it does show the harm lack of anonymity can bring.

The thing is, no one here can really say what actually went on.

Of course the family are trying to defend him, and in all likelihood they will also be getting some top flight PR advice.

But on the other hand, the police are hardly going to lay everything on the table whilst they are still investigating. The idea that they would stop an investigation because the suspect was acutely distressed is really quite out of touch. As is presuming a private DNA test would be enough evidence to close a case.

And the previous conviction and drugs will also not be helping.

It does. But obviously whether it was the police or not is likely to be very relevant to the outcome of the family's complaint.

It's interesting the family haven't put the boot into the press, not that I've seen anyway. The Mail certainly didn't have to publish it. Maybe they're hoping to keep the media onside.

The police don’t just knock on someone’s door on the say so of a disgruntled ex!

I'd be amazed if they don't routinely interview people based on one single verbal allegation. There are a vast number of offences that wouldn't be detected if they didn't.

If we're looking for examples Carl Beech, Danny Day (Accused David Bryant).

Closer to the incident the police arrested a millionaire banker who looked as much like the pictures as this current suspect does. Luckily for him he could prove he was in a different country at the time of the incident, otherwise I'm sure there would have been plenty of people sure it was him. It does raise the question about just how much due diligence police do prior to an arrest.