Remember the Putney Pusher? The 2017 case could be solved thanks to new play

A play about a man who pushed a woman into the path of a double decker bus could help uncover his identity seven years on.

In May 2017, the ‘Putney Pusher’ pushed the woman on Putney Bridge and his identity has remained unsolved ever since.

The driver of the bus managed to swerve out of the way and avoided hitting the 33-year-old woman.

Police were forced to close the case, despite two arrests and the questioning of 50 suspects.

The play, called Once Upon a Bridge, is set to be released this month at the OSO Arts Centre in Barnes, south west London.

It tells the story through the perspective of three people involved: the runner, the victim and the driver and looks at the motives behind the attack.

Artistic director at the OSO, Lydia Sax, told The Guardian: ‘I often wonder why that one individual act mattered so much to so many.

‘The severity of the attack was part of it, I think. And the fact it was never solved.’

Sonya Kelly, who wrote the play, said: ‘When you look at the CCTV closely there’s a moment you can freeze-frame where the two figures almost seem to waltz together before he pushes her over. I kept thinking about that.

‘But, in fact, of course, he nearly killed her. He must have known that she fell, but doesn’t look back. 

‘He believed he was not being watched. It seems likely he only realised she fell in front of a bus when he saw the video later.

‘I decided to watch it as a historical fiction, to look at out changing relationship with justice, anonymity and with consequences.’

She said anyone with any new information should come forward.

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