Liam Payne's manager, hotel staff failed 'vulnerable' singer before death, judge says

Pictures and candles are placed as fans gather to pay tribute to late British singer Liam Payne, former member of the British pop band One Direction, in Treptower Park in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

An Argentine judge argued that the manager of former One Direction singer Liam Payne and employees of the hotel where he was staying failed the popstar in the moments before his death and allowed charges against them to proceed, according to a statement from the prosecutor's office on Monday.

Payne fell to his death from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires in October.

Payne's manager as well as the manager of the hotel and its head of reception are charged with manslaughter in relation to the former pop superstar's death. They face up to five years in prison if convicted.

A hotel employee and a local waiter are accused of plying Payne with cocaine during his stay, and face up to 15 years in prison. The judge in her decision on Friday ordered them jailed ahead of their trial.

"Taking Payne up to his room in the state he was in was to put his life at risk," the judge said in her decision, which was released with the prosecutor's statement. "It was obvious that he was vulnerable."

Payne's autopsy showed that at the time of his death he had "large quantities" of cocaine and alcohol in his system, according to the statement.

Payne allegedly purchased cocaine at least four times from the hotel employee and waiter over a three-day period.

Footage from the lobby of the Casa Sur hotel in the posh Palermo neighbourhood showed that minutes before Payne's death on Oct. 16 he was seen unconscious and being carried up to his room by three people.

The hotel receptionist headed the group, and was then seen with the hotel manager in the hallway outside Payne's room, according to the statement.

"Payne's consciousness was altered and there was a balcony in the room. The proper thing to do was to leave him in a safe place and in company until a doctor arrived," the judge said.

She added that evidence showed that Payne attempted to leave his room through the balcony but due to the state he was in he fell.

Payne's manager, identified only by his initials "RLN," left the hotel less than an hour before the fall. The judge argued that he should not have entrusted the hotel employees with Payne's wellbeing.

The judge barred the manager, who is a U.S. citizen, from leaving Argentina.

(Reporting by Kylie Madry; Editing by Mark Porter)