Nick O'Teen's hard to defeat/kill...
And apparently, either Metropolis is in the UK, or Supes just used his telescopic vision to see all of this going on in London. ;-)
As a former smoker, I can confirm that Nick O'Teen is a pretty tough customer, but I still think throwing the guy off the map is a bit over the top.
It's wonderfully weird how Superman leaves the Daily Planet offices to be greeted by what seems to be schoolchildren in one of London's more affluent suburbs. He really keeps tabs!