To think that someone reading this knows who the Putney Bridge Pusher is

[Fragmentedbrain]

And for whatever reason didn't report it to the police?

Someone knows come on out with it

(Question inspired by the thread about lunatic men assaulting women for no reason cos they think nothing will happen to them)

Attempted manslaughter is an oxymoron. Certainly there no such UK offence.

I understand the reasons why, but men like him make me wish we did psych testing on everyone and took a few out of circulation!

Knowing there are people out there who are so removed from human decency is troubling.

How right you are @EaglesSwim, factual and logic fail by me.

All the holes in the Swiss cheese have to line up, ultimately. He could be sitting across the office from any MNer right now - but identifying him relies on that person firstly knowing about the case and having seen the images, being good at recognising features from grainy images, knowing that James in IT lives in Putney, and that he’s a runner, thinking “gosh, I wonder if that could be James?” - and not then thinking “no, don’t be silly, James always seems lovely, he wouldn’t do that.”

Tracking somebody via CCTV can be a lot more difficult than it seems. CCTV can actually be pretty patchy and it’s really easy to lose somebody in a crowd once they’re out of frame. I remember working for a housing association and one of our elderly residents with dementia had gone walkabout: despite staff being really familiar with how she looked, and knowing exactly which way she’d gone via our own on site CCTV, tracking her along the highstreet via council and shop CCTV proved remarkably hard.

Unfortunately the traffic on and around the bridge is usually gridlocked (adjacent bridge has been shut for years). I also wish he had been followed but would have needed to be by bike or on foot

Thanks @ComtesseDeSpair.

At the very least I hope he feels fear of being caught for the rest of his life.

Personally, I doubt that. He probably had no idea how close she was to death. All he knows is he shoved someone and 10 minites later she was unhurt and angry with him.

He's likely sitting in his his home country blissfully unaware that this video went viral in the UK.

Moreover, I suspect he's only committed a very minor offence. Assaults are based on the injuries the victim received, not the shockingness and potential for harm of the act and luckily she was unharmed.

That idea belongs in a dystopian fiction novel.

Thank you for raising this @Fragmentedbrain I thought of this again recently with the woman cyclist being pushed into the canal. Same energy.

He’s adamant he didn’t push her and that she wobbled into the canal. The footage certainly doesn’t show her being pushed in and she was squeezing past very close to the edge 🤷‍♀️

with the Putney pusher it was all over the news and media at the time. I do think maybe he’s not from the uk.

It doesn't but I believe her, given the man's language and body language immediately prior to the incident.

I've not had anyone push me into a road or canal but have encountered several men barreling into me deliberately in London before.

I had to Google this - haveno recollection of it at all, was living in London + regular runner at the time.
(Better check to see if I know him).

Maybe he's a spy or on witness protection.

It does seem odd that they never managed to get any more footage of him at all, despite there being vast numbers of cameras in London, both officially and unofficially (dashcams, doorbells etc). But I really don't think London takes female safety at all seriously these days, so in all honesty I doubt there ever was much attempt made. I don't know that I'd particularly expect anyone on MN to know him though, even if he's a local he may well not have much to do with the sort of person who frequents this site. I doubt he has many female acquaintances. Certainly someone does know, but they may well have the same attitude towards women as he does so would hardly dob him in.

Always assumed he was a visitor from another country where the case wasn't publicised and who didn't interact with enough people here to be memorable. Very easy to imagine why he was never found without having to assume cover-ups.

CCTV images were clear but not memorable. I followed the case at the time as I sometimes ran by Putney Bridge but I couldn't have told you a single thing about his face a few months later, let alone now.

Horrible horrible bridge on every possible level btw. Horrible to walk on, to run on, to drive on, to breathe on. Somehow even worse now. Utter gridlock. And for such a dull area of London too.

Regardless of his nationality, who he is, CCTV, etc., for the life of me I can't work out why he did it!

There was no altercation, misunderstanding, jostling for space, whatever....

I presume the police have ruled out anyone who knew the victim and could have planned it - but how could he have planned the bus being there at the right time.

I'm really baffled - I wonder if any behavioural psychologists have any ideas?

Yes, you can. Anyone with half a brain cell will be able to distinguish your opinion from a rumour.

Misogyny most likely. A deep hatred of women.

He'd presumably run past other women without pushing them over, to there must be more to it than that.

TBH, I don't think there will be a "rational" explanation. (FWOABW) I think he must be unhinged in a specific way. I was hoping someone with a relevant mental health background might have given us some ideas, as requested by a PP.

Could be that she looked like another woman in his personal life he had issues with. It's not as uncommon as you would think for men to take things out on women with certain traits like that.

It's totally possible his family are aware of it yes

This has resurfaced again on Twitter

It would be amazing if he were finally identified

Ive just looked up footage. I dont think its clear enough at all for someone to recognise them? Even a DH might be tricky to ID there and of course, it could be someone who doesn't have any meaningful relationships.

Not seen the video, seen a photo of the man or heard about the story.

There is 60+ million people in the UK & I presume not all are on MN and there are other people who post from abroad, how on earth can you guarantee this?