Three people charged in connection to death of singer Liam Payne
The former One Direction star died after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina
Three people have been charged in connection with the death of Liam Payne.
The public prosecutor’s office in Argentina said three people had been charged, with one person who had been accompanying Payne accused of “abandonment of a person followed by death”.
The 31-year-old former One Direction star, who lived in Chalfont St Giles died after falling from a third-floor balcony of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires last month.
An employee at the hotel where Payne was staying and a third person have also been charged with supplying drugs.
Argentine authorities also ruled out third party involvement and “self-harm” in Payne’s death, according to a forensic psychiatric report.
The report said: “Although other medical background information from the victim’s clinical history must still be analysed, the phenomenon of the lack of defence or self-preservation reflex in the fall, together with other relevant data from his consumption, allow us to conclude that Liam Payne was not fully conscious or was experiencing a state of noticeable decrease or loss of consciousness at the time of the fall".
The office also said it had completed a detailed analysis of more than 800 hours of video footage from security cameras and obtained several dozen testimonies from hotel staff, family members, friends and medical professionals.
Nine raids have also been ordered on properties in Buenos Aires and some of Payne’s devices are still being analysed, prosecutors said.
The musician’s body was handed over to his father, Geoff Payne, last weekend, according to the statement.
Prosecutors added that “exhaustive and meticulous measures were taken to clarify the circumstances” around the former One Direction singer’s death.
Payne died from multiple injuries as well as internal and external bleeding caused by the fall, a post-mortem examination said.
His body was found in the hotel’s internal courtyard.
After his death, police found substances in his hotel room, and damaged objects and furniture, according to the public prosecutor’s office.
It's understood Payne's body has now been returned to the UK, with his funeral expected to take place in the coming days.